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William Hilton Hovell (26 April 1786 – 9 November 1875) was an English explorer of Australia. With
Hamilton Hume Hamilton Hume (19 June 1797 – 19 April 1873) was an early explorer of the present-day Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria. In 1824, along with William Hovell, Hume participated in an expedition that first took an overland rout ...
, he made an 1824 overland expedition from
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
to
Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...
(near the site of present-day
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
), and later explored the area around
Western Port Western Port, (Boonwurrung: ''Warn Marin'') commonly but unofficially known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia, opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in the state. Geographically, it is do ...
.


Early life

Hovell was born in Yarmouth,
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, England. His father was captain and part owner of a vessel trading to the Mediterranean, which, during a voyage in 1794, was captured by the French and taken into a port, where he became a prisoner of war for two years. William, when only 10 years of age, went to sea to earn his living. After going through the hard life of a foremast hand, at 20 years of age he was mate of ''Zenobia'' bound to Peru, and two years later he was a mercantile marine captain of the ''Juno'' bound to Rio Janeiro, and others. He decided to come to Australia, arriving at Sydney
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
by the ship ''Earl Spencer'', with his wife Esther ''née'' Arndell (daughter of the surgeon
Thomas Arndell Thomas Arndell (4 March 1753 – 2 May 1821) was a surgeon, magistrate, and farmer. He was born in England, but moved to Australia with the First Fleet when he was 35. He farmed many acres of land there, and he later became a magistrate. He or ...
), and two children, a boy and a girl, on 9 October 1813. Making an association with
Simeon Lord Simeon Lord ( – 29 January 1840) was a pioneer merchant and a magistrate in Australia. He became a prominent trader in Sydney, buying and selling ship cargoes. Despite being an emancipist Lord was made a magistrate by Governor Lachlan Mac ...
, Hovell became master of a vessel and made several trading voyages along the east coast of Australia coast and to New Zealand. In June 1816, while in command of '' The Brothers'' he was shipwrecked in the
Kent Group The Kent Group are a grouping of six granite islands located in Bass Strait, north-west of the Furneaux Group in Tasmania, Australia. Collectively, the group is comprised within the Kent Group National Park. The islands were named Kent's Gro ...
,
Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
, and along with his crew of eight survived for 10 weeks on the wheat from their cargo that was washed up, before being rescued by the ''Spring''. In 1819 he settled on the land near
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and did some exploring in a southerly direction; he reached the Burragorang Valley in 1823.


Explorer

In 1824 Governor Sir
Thomas Brisbane Major General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet, (23 July 1773 – 27 January 1860), was a British Army officer, administrator, and astronomer. Upon the recommendation of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had served, he was appoint ...
asked Hovell to join with
Hamilton Hume Hamilton Hume (19 June 1797 – 19 April 1873) was an early explorer of the present-day Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria. In 1824, along with William Hovell, Hume participated in an expedition that first took an overland rout ...
to undertake the exploration of what is now southern New South Wales and
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
in an attempt to obtain more information about any rivers that might run south in the direction of
Spencer Gulf The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and ...
. Hovell had little bush experience, but had great experience as a navigator. The planned official expedition did not eventuate, and Hume and Hovell decided to make the journey at their own expense. Some pack-saddles, clothes, blankets and arms were provided from the government stores. The explorers left on 3 October 1824 with six men. They reached Hume's station on 13 October, and on 17 October began the expedition proper with five bullocks, three horses and two carts. On 22 October they found that the only way to pass the
Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...
, then in flood, was to convert one of the carts into a type of boat by passing a tarpaulin under it; the men, horses, and bullocks swam over, and everything successfully got across. A day or two later, in broken hilly country full of water-courses, they had great difficulty in finding a road for the loaded carts, deciding on 27 October to abandon them. Until 16 November their course lay through difficult mountainous country. On that day they came to a large river which Hovell called Hume's River "he being the first that saw it". This was an upper reach of the
Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...
so named by
Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...
a few years later. It was impossible to cross here, but after a few days a better place was found, and constructing the rough frame of a boat, they managed to get across. By 3 December they had reached the
Goulburn River The Goulburn River, a major inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the alpine, Northern Country/North Central, and Southern Riverina regions of the Australian state of Victoria. ...
, which they were able to cross without a boat. Four days later impassable country was reached. The party spent three days attempting to cross the
Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
at Mt Disappointment but were thwarted. Hume shifted direction to the West then reached lower land at the future township of Broadford on the 12 December where they camped. Hume headed towards low ranges to the South and found a pass in that direction next day. He led the party across the Dividing Range at Hume’s Pass,
Wandong Wandong is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is about north of the state capital, Melbourne, on the Hume Highway. It adjoins the town of Heathcote Junction, and at the , the two towns had a population of 1,340. The main centre nearest W ...
and on the 16th December, 1824 reached
Port Phillip Bay Port Phillip (Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completel ...
at Bird Rock, Point Lillias adjacent to the future
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
. Hovell claimed that he measured their longitude on the same day but in reality he read it off the sketch map that they had drafted themselves during the trip. Hovell admitted in 1867 that he did not take any longitude measurements and blamed Hume for it. Prior to this admission, Dr William Bland, who wrote the first book on the journey in 1831, invented the myth that Hovell made an error of one degree in longitude in order to protect him. The party turned back towards
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
on the 18 December. Hume chose to travel more to the west to avoid the mountainous country and save considerable time. This was a sound decision. On 16 January 1825, just as their flour ran out, they reached the carts they had left behind them, and then two days later the safety of Hume's station at Gunning. On 25 March 1825 Governor Brisbane mentioned the discoveries of Hovell and Hume in a dispatch and said that he intended to send a vessel to Western Port to have it explored. However, nothing was done until his successor, Governor Darling, towards the end of 1826, sent an expedition under Captain Wright to Western Port. Hovell was attached to this expedition, and when it arrived he saw that it was not the region that he had reached on his first trip. Hovell explored and reported on the land surrounding Western Port and to the north of it, and near the coast to the east at
Cape Paterson Cape Paterson () is a cape and seaside village located near the town of Wonthaggi, south-east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for the disc ...
he discovered "great quantities of very fine
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
". This was the first discovery of coal in Victoria. Hovell was away five months on this expedition and afterwards did no more exploring. He made various efforts during the next 10 years to obtain some special recognition from the government in addition to the grants of for the journey with Hume, and for the journey to Western Port, "subject to restrictions and encumbrances so depreciatory of its value, as to render it a very inadequate remuneration". He appears to have had no success, but prospered on his pastoral run at Goulburn, where he lived for the rest of his life. He died on 9 November 1875, and in 1877 his widow left the substantial sum of £6000 to the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
as a memorial of him, which was used to found the William Hilton Hovell lectureship on geology and physical geography.


Late life

In 1854 ill-feeling arose between Hume and Hovell which led to each write public documents with contradicting claims on the conduct of their expedition. In December 1853 Hovell had been entertained at a public dinner in Geelong to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the discovery of the district. Reports reached Hume that Hovell was credited for the discovery of Geelong. The fullest report of Hovell's speech available does not justify Hume's contention. Hovell died in Sydney on 9 November 1875 and was buried at Goulburn, survived by a son.


Honours

The road William Hovell Drive which connects the districts of
Belconnen The District of Belconnen () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), used in land administration. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Belconn ...
to
North Canberra North Canberra, also known as the Inner North, is a district of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, comprising 14 suburbs. At the , it had 26,699 dwellings housing 61,188 people of the 453,324 people in the Australian Capital Territory. Ma ...
in
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, Australia is named after him. In 1976 Hume and Hovell were honoured on a
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
bearing their portraits issued by
Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...
Lake William Hovell on the King River is named after him. William Hovell Drive, between
Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...
Avenue and John Edgcumbe Way, in
Endeavour Hills Endeavour Hills is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey local government area. Endeavour Hills recorded a population of 24,455 at the . Endeavour Hil ...
,
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
, is named after him. Hovells Creek near Geelong is named after him. The creek flows through the suburb of Lara, with its mouth at Limeburners Lagoon, flowing into Corio Bay from the north.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hovell, William 1786 births 1875 deaths People from Great Yarmouth Explorers of Australia English explorers Royal Navy officers