Edwin S. Berry

Edwin Stow Berry (1845 – 1 June 1934) was a surveyor and explorer, who took a leading part in two important expeditions to the Northern Territory of Australia.

History

He was born in Glenelg, South Australia to William Berry ( – ) and Hannah Berry, née Watts (c. 1804 – 15 October 1880), of Ringmer, Sussex, who arrived in South Australia in September 1839 on the Branken Moor from London. They lived for a while at Glenelg, then Grenfell Street, Adelaide, then built the family home "Ringmer" in Burnside, later the home of cricketer W. O. Whitridge.

Edwin was educated at J. L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution, which supplied a solid grounding to many boys in useful sciences, mathematics and languages. In 1865 he was taken on by the Government's Survey Department, and in the same year he joined George Goyder's surveying team.[1] He was a head of the survey team attached to Goyder's 1869 expedition to the Northern Territory laid out the plan for the town of Port Darwin,[2] and lithographed by F. S. Crawford in 1869. The other surveyors were J. W. O. Bennett, A. Ringwood and W. M. Hardy.

He was chosen as second-in-charge for Major Warburton's expedition which was to have left Adelaide in early September 1872 for Central Mount Stuart, and thence to Perth. That expedition was delayed almost a month and Berry was dropped from the party,[3] and instead assigned to William Gosse as second-in-charge of his 1873 expedition to Central Australia, and whose other members were Henry Gosse (William's brother, died 1888 in Darwin), Henry Winnall and Patrick Nilen (possibly spelled "Nilan"), three Afghans and "Moses", an Aborigine from Peake.[4] William Darton Kekwick, originally appointed the party's "Collector", was too ill to proceed and died 16 October 1872 on his return to Adelaide. Among their discoveries was the monolith Uluru which Gosse named "Ayer's Rock". The party reached a point 600 miles (970 km) west of the Transcontinental Telegraph Line and were forced to return due to lack of available water.[5]

He was probably the first white man to climb Ayers Rock/Uluru.[6]

He was later chief draughtsman of the Land Titles Office.[7]

He died in Roseville, New South Wales at the home of his daughter.

Further reading

Recognition

Family

He married Adelaide Mary Forbes Laurie (1855 – 19 December 1897) on 11 July 1874. Their children included:

References

  1. ↑ "Obituary". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 11 June 1934. p. 17. Retrieved 30 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "Plan of the Northern Territory Survey". South Australian Register. XXXIII, (7189). South Australia. 23 November 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 29 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "The Great Western Exploration". South Australian Register. XXXVII, (8063). South Australia. 19 September 1872. p. 4. Retrieved 30 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "Discoverer of Ayers Rock". The Chronicle (Adelaide). LXXIV, (3,898). South Australia. 20 August 1931. p. 50. Retrieved 30 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "Return of Mr. W. C. Gosse's Exploring Expedition". The Express And Telegraph. XI, (3,077). South Australia. 29 January 1874. p. 2. Retrieved 30 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Ayers Rock". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 30 July 1930. p. 8. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Retiring Civil Servants". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 28 August 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
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