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Medal - Stuart Expedition Jubilee, Royal Geographical Society of Australia, Australia, 1912
Reg. No: NU 34834
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- Summary:
- Mint. Niehuus & Lewis
Other Details: Bronze strike of medal awarded (in gold) to members of the John McDouall Stuart expedition to cross Australia in 1862 on the occasion of the Jubilee of the expedition in 1912. Stuart was a Scottish immigrant who had trained at the Scottish Naval and Military Academy. He joined a surveying party soon after his arrival in Australia in 1839, and was invited to join his first exploring party by Charles Sturt. He became a seasoned surveyer and explorer. At the end of 1860 the South Australian government hastily granted money to fund his journey across Australia, hoping to beat Burke and Wills, who had already left. Between January and September 1861 he attempted an exhausting journey that ultimately failed, but unlike Burke and Wills he returned to Adelaide alive. Undaunted, he set off again the following month, in late October 1861. The party reached the centre of Australia on 12 March 1862, and on 24 July 1862, suffering for exhaustion, they forced their way through thick scrub and came upon the Indian Ocean. On the return journey Stuart became ill with scurvey and nearly blind, and many horses became so weak they had to be abandoned. The party arrived in Adelaide on 17 December. A public holiday was called for 21 January, and a parade rode through the streets. Stuart was still exhausted, nearly blind and white-haired, and died four years later, aged 51. - Acquisition Information:
- Transfer from National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), 1912
| Discipline: | Numismatics |
| Dimensions: | 31 mm (Diameter) |
| Weight: | 19.81 g (Weight) |
More information
| Tagged with: | australian exploration, stuart expedition 1862 |
| Themes this item is part of: | John McDouall Stuart, Surveyor & Explorer (1815-1866), Public Life & Institutions Collection, Science & Measurement Collection |
| Primary Classification: | MEDALS |
| Secondary Classification: | Commemorative |
| Tertiary Classification: | australian exploration |
| Series: | Australian Commemorative Medals |
| DateEra: | 1912 AD |
| Obverse Description: | At centre head of Stuart facing left, bearded; around, JOHN McDOUALL STUART HOISTED HIS FLAG HAVING CROSSED AUSTRALIA * / 25 JULY 1862 |
| Reverse Description: | PRESENTED / TO / (empty box) / A MEMBER / OF THE EXPEDITION / 25 JULY 1912 |
| Edge Description: | Plain |
| Material: | Bronze |
| Issued By: | Royal Geographical Society of Australia, Australia, 1912 |
| Mint: | Niehuus & Lewis, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 1912 |
| Person Depicted: | John Stuart, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 1912 |
| References: | Car. 1912/1 |
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This item is part of the following themes:
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