Robert O'Hara Burke (6 May 1821c. 28 June 1861) 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 areas of Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The expedition party was well equipped, but Burke was not experienced in bushcraft. A Commission of Inquiry held by the Government of Victoria to investigate the failure of the expedition was a censure of Burke's judgement.
Early years
Burke was born in St Clerans, County Galway, Ireland in May 1821. He was the second of three sons of James Hardiman Burke (1788 – January 1854), an officer in the British army 7th Royal Fusiliers, and Anne Louisa Burke née O'Hara (married 1817, d.1844).
Robert O'Hara was one of seven children; John Hardiman Burke (d. August 1863) Robert O'Hara Burke (6 May 1821 – 28 June 1861) James Thomas Burke (c. 1828 – 7 July 1854) Fanny Marie Burke (married John Blakeney) Elizabeth Burke (married Lt. Col Menzies) Hester Albinia Burke (unmarried, d. 10 November 1866) Anne Celestine Burke (married Major Horace de Vere, d.1914)
James Thomas Burke was a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, and on 7 July 1854 at the battle of Giurgevo became the first British officer killed in the Crimean war.
Military career
Burke entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in May 1835. In December 1836 he failed his probationary exam and went to Belgium to further his education. In 1841, at the age of twenty he entered the Austrian army and in August 1842 was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the Prince Regent's 7th Reuss Regiment of the Hungarian Hussars. He spent most of his time in the Imperial Austrian Army posted to northern Italy and in April 1847 was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Towards the end of 1847 he suffered health problems and went to Recoaro spa in northern Italy, then Gräfenberg (now Lázně Jeseník) and finally Aachen before resigning from the Austrian army in June 1848 after charges against him relating to debts and absence without leave were dropped.
Police career
After returning to Ireland in 1848, he joined the Irish Constabulary (later the Royal Irish Constabulary). He did his cadet training at Phoenix Park Depot in Dublin between November 1849 and January 1850, was promoted to 3rd Class Sub-Inspector and he was stationed in County Kildare. At the end of 1850, he transferred to the Mounted Police in Dublin.
Migrating to Australia
Burke migrated to Australia in 1853. He left Queenstown, County Cork on 24 November 1852 on the S.S. Rodney which was carrying 342 convicts. He arrived in Hobart, Tasmania on 12 February 1853 and promptly sailed for Melbourne. On 1 April 1853 he joined the recently established Victoria police force. Initially, he worked as Acting Inspector under the Chief Commissioner William Henry Fancourt Mitchell in the Parish of Jika Jika in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, but on 1 November 1853 he was appointed a magistrate, was promoted to Police Inspector, and was posted to Carlsruhe. On 31 December 1853 he was promoted to District Inspector of the Ovens District and early in 1854 he moved to Beechworth to relieve Inspector John Giles Price.
After the unfortunate death of his brother, James Thomas, in the Crimean War, Burke decided to enlist. He left Australia on the S.S. Marco Polo on 25 March 1856 for England, but, by the time he arrived in Liverpool in June, peace had been declared and the war ended. Burke re-boarded the Marco Polo and returned to Victoria, arriving in Melbourne on 2 December 1856.
He resumed his posting at Beechworth and from there attended the "Buckland Valley" riots near Bright against the Chinese gold miners in 1857. In November 1858 he was transferred to Castlemaine as Police Superintendent on £550 p.a. plus a groom and quarters at Broadoaks on Gingell Street.
After the South Australian explorer, John McDouall Stuart had reached the centre of Australia, the South Australian parliament offered a reward of £2,000 for the promotion of an expedition to cross the continent from the south to north, generally following Stuart's route. He also partnered with another explorer who wanted to discover things about Australia.
Burke and Wills Expedition
In June 1860, Burke was appointed to lead the Victorian Exploring Expedition with William John Wills, his third-in-command, as surveyor and astronomical observer.