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Francis Cadell (explorer)
Encyclopedia
European exploration of Australia
The European exploration of Australia encompasses several waves of seafarers and land explorers. Although Australia is often loosely said to have been discovered by Royal Navy Lieutenant James Cook in 1770, he was merely one of a number of European explorers to have sighted and landed on the...
, most remembered for opening the Murray River up for transport by steamship.
Early life
Cadell was born in Cockenzie, Haddingtonshire, ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, the second son of Hew Francis Cadell, mine-owner and shipbuilder. Educated in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and at Cuxhaven, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He joined the East Indiaman Minerva at 14, and sailed in her to the first China war
First Opium War
The First Anglo-Chinese War , known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice...
in 1839, later claiming a part in the siege of Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
. Soon after he was given a ship by his father.
Cadell went to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, had experience of river navigation on the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
.
He first arrived in Australia in January 1849 as captain of the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Royal Sovereign, visiting Adelaide, Circular Head
Circular Head
The Circular Head Council is a Local Government Area of Tasmania. It covers the far north-west corner of the state mainland.The major centres of the municipality are Smithton, on the north coast; Stanley, east of Smithton; and Marrawah on the west coast...
and Sydney., sailing in ballast for Singapore in June.
Steaming on the Murray River
In 1850 the South AustraliaSouth Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n government had offered a bonus of £4000 to be equally divided between the owners of the first two iron steamers that should successfully navigate the Murray from Goolwa to the junction of the Darling River
Darling River
The Darling River is the third longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longest contiguous tributaries it is long, making it the longest river system in Australia.The...
. When Cadell returned to Australia in 1852, he arrived at Port Adelaide in command of the clipper
Clipper
A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...
, Queen of Sheba. The government's bonus for the navigation of the Murray River had not been claimed and Cadell stayed in Adelaide, formulating a design for a suitable steamboat in partnership with his father's agent, William Younghusband.
Cadell gave orders for the construction of a steamer in Chowne's Yard, Sydney. While it was being built, explored the Murray in a canvas boat named Forerunner, in which, with four men, he travelled 1300 miles (2,092.1 km) from Swan Hill
Swan Hill, Victoria
Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Murray Valley Highway, on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At the 2006 census, Swan Hill had a population of 9,684.-History:...
downstream. The canvas boat was conveyed overland from Melbourne to Swan Hill.
After several delays, in June 1853 his steamer the Lady Augusta successfully passed through the breakers at the mouth of the Murray, and on 25 August left Goolwa, South Australia
Goolwa, South Australia
Goolwa is a historic river port on the Murray River near the Murray Mouth in South Australia, and joined by a bridge to Hindmarsh Island. The name "Goolwa" means "elbow" in Ngarrindjeri, the local Aboriginal language....
on a voyage up the Murray with Cadell in command. Among the passengers were the governor, Sir Henry Young
Henry Young
Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, KCMG was the fifth Governor of South Australia, serving in that role from 2 August 1848 until 20 December 1854. He was then the first Governor of Tasmania, from 1855 until 1861.-Early life:...
and Lady Young, after whom the steamer was named. They returned on 14 October having reached a point 1500 miles (2,414 km) up the river.
A few months later it was ascertained that the Murray was navigable as far as Albury, New South Wales
Albury, New South Wales
Albury is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Hume Highway on the northern side of the Murray River. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Albury Local Government Area...
and the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
navigable to Gundagai
Gundagai, New South Wales
Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town...
. Cadell had carried a considerable quantity of wool and much trade was expected with the Riverina squatters. A gold and silver candelabrum was presented by the settlers to Cadell, with an inscription that it had been presented to him "in commemoration of his first having opened the steam navigation and commerce of the River Murray 1853". Cadell was also presented with a gold medal struck by the legislative council, and he joined with others in forming the River Murray Navigating Company. The establishment of inland customs houses and the refusal of the three colonies to join in the snagging of the river, created difficulties for the company, and the failure of Port Elliot as a harbour led to more than one steamer being lost. The company which had at first enjoyed good profits failed and Cadell lost everything he had.
Cadell's claim on being the pioneer of inland navigation on the Murray is contested. J. G. and William Randell
William Randell
William Richard Randell "Captain Randell" , was an Australian politician and pioneer born in Devon, England, who emigrated to the newly-founded colony of South Australia in 1837 with his family...
had constructed an earlier steamer which had traded on the Murray as early as March 1853, and at the time of the Cadell's first voyage upstream on the Lady Augusta, Randell's Mary-Ann had progressed further up the river and at a greater speed. However, it was a much smaller vessel and not eligible for the bonus offered by the government.
Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria
During 1860 Cadell did exploring work in eastern GippslandGippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
, and attempted to get the Government of Victoria to sponsor the establishment of a steamer service between Melbourne, the Snowy River and the Gippsland Lakes.
While in Victoria, Cadell was a member of the Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria
Royal Society of Victoria
The Royal Society of Victoria is the oldest learned society in the state of Victoria in Australia.The Royal Society of Victoria was formed in 1859 from a merger between The Philosophical Society of Victoria and The Victorian Institute for the Advancement of Science , both founded...
which organised the Burke and Wills expedition
Burke and Wills expedition
In 1860–61, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres...
of 1860. Cadell offered to transport the expedition's equipment by steamer to the value of £500 for free. However his opposition to the appointment of Burke
Robert O'Hara Burke
Robert O'Hara Burke was an Irish soldier and police officer, who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled...
to the post of expedition leader meant Burke refused Cadell's offer and transported the stores overland by instead, a decision that slowed the progress of the expedition considerably.
Relocation to New Zealand
In 1865 Cadell was in New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
employed by the New Zealand government as commandant in the Waikato Steam Transport Service, a support group during the New Zealand land wars
New Zealand land wars
The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...
.
In March 1865 Cadell was involved in the mutiny of Captain Hannibal Marks, on the HMS Sandfly
HMS Sandfly (1863)
HMS Sandfly was a two-gun paddle gunboat used by the New Zealand colonial government during the New Zealand land wars.-Tasmanian Maid:...
. Cadell ordered the first mate of the Sandfly to get underway without its captain. When Marks caught the ship in a row boat, he placed the mate under arrest for taking orders from Cadell. Cadell then ordered Marks to reinstate the mate, and fire another crew member. Marks refused and the crew sided with Marks.
1867 Expedition to Northern Australia
In February 1867 the South Australian government sent Cadell to the Northern TerritoryNorthern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
"to fix upon a proper site for the survey of 300,000 acres [1,200 km²]". His selection of a site on the Liverpool River, was much criticized at the time, and was eventually rejected. He approached the Northern Territory by ship, and his choice of site was influenced by the navigability of the river. He traversed a strait between Elcho Island
Elcho Island
Elcho Island is an island off the coast of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Wessel Islands group located in the East Arnhem Region. The island's largest community is the settlement of Galiwin'ku....
and the mainland, which Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
had previously noted as a probable island. The strait is now known as Cadell Strait. He had been able to give the authorities much valuable information about the country, but the climate of the territory and its great distance from other centres of population made its development a problem which had not been solved more than half a century after his visit.
Later life and death
He became involved in whalingWhaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
, trading
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
, and pearling
Pearl hunting
Pearl hunting or pearl diving refers to a largely obsolete method of retrieving pearls from pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels and, on rare occasions, other nacre-producing molluscs, such as abalone.-History:...
.
Cadell then took up trading in the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
, and when sailing in the Gem to the Kei Islands near New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
he was murdered by the cook's mate, about March 1879.
Legacy
A replica of the Forerunner (his canvas boat used to explore the Murray from Swan Hill downstream) is in Prestongrange museumPrestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum
The Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum is an industrial heritage museum at Prestongrange between Musselburgh and Prestonpans on the B1348 on the East Lothian coast, Scotland UK....
.
His family name is commemorated by Cadell Strait in the Northern Territory.
Sources
- Ian Mudie, 'Cadell, Francis (1822 - 1879)', Australian Dictionary of BiographyAustralian Dictionary of BiographyThe Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
, Volume 3, MUP, 1969, pp 324–325.