William Wedge Darke (1810–1890) was an Australian colonist and surveyor, the son of John Darke of Hereford and Elizabeth Darke, née Wedge, and younger brother of John Charles Darke and a nephew of

John Helder Wedge John Helder Wedge (1793 – 22 November 1872) was a surveyor, explorer and politician in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania, Australia).G. H. Stancombe'Wedge, John Helder (1793 - 1872), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition Wedge was ...

from whom he learnt his profession. He arrived in

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

in 1827 with his parents, younger brother Henry and sister Elizabeth. In the early 1830s he was in private practice in Van Diemen's Land as a surveyor, then moved to

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 ...

where he joined the survey department. In 1836 he was sent as an Assistant Surveyor under Robert Russell to survey the new settlement at

Port Phillip 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 com ...

. At

Darke carried out some of the first surveys of the new town of Melbourne and was instrumental in laying out the streets of the new town for sale at the first land auctions. He had numerous disputes with

Robert Hoddle Robert Hoddle (21 April 1794 – 24 October 1881) was a surveyor and artist. He is best known as the surveyor general of the Port Phillip District (later known as the Australian state of Victoria) from 1837 to 1853, especially for creation o ...

and was eventually engaged on a contract basis. Darke brought a wooden caravan from Sydney and set up camp with his family near Robert Russell's wood and daub hut on the south side of the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, ( Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower s ...

in what is now central Melbourne. The caravan, dubbed 'Darke's Ark', had two rooms and a piano, and was drawn by bullocks to locations convenient to his surveying duties around Port Phillip. The caravan was eventually left at the beach as a bathing house. For a time Darke located his caravan at the seaside in what is now the inner city suburb of

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...

after cutting the first track through the tea tree scrub. He hoisted a barrel on a pole, on high ground to point the way back to the Melbourne settlement and this led to the area's early name of 'Sandridge'. The earliest permanent white settler of

and talented amateur artist, Wilbraham Liardet was working on an illustrated history of Melbourne before his death and in a 1913 news article, drawn from Liardet's work, an early impression of Darke's 1837 camp – with 'Darke's Ark and 'barrel on a pole' – was published. In 1843 he returned to

. In 1846 he was an Assistant Colonial Surveyor and lived with his wife and family in Pitt Street, Sydney. In April 1860, notice was given that Darke had been appointed a licensed surveyor. Many of his field notebooks are held in the

Mitchell Library The Mitchell Library is a large public library and centre of the City Council public library system of Glasgow, Scotland. History The library, based in the Charing Cross district, was initially established in Ingram Street in 1877 following a ...

in Sydney.

References

Australian surveyors 1810 births 1890 deaths {{Australia-bio-stub