CHAMBERS BAY, NT. — John McDouall Stuart was a Scottish-born explorer who came to South Australia at the age of 23, where explorer Charles Sturt initially employed him in the Survey Department of the young colony.
Stuart learnt a great deal about exploration when he accompanied Sturt on an expedition into central Australia in 1844.
Despite both Sturt and Stuart being affected by scurvy, this expedition fired Stuart’s ambition to be the first to cross the continent from south to north.
Stuart led numerous expeditions into central Australia, five of which were determined attempts to reach the north coast.
Although he was initially unsuccessful in breaking past central Australia, he and his men were the first to see the centre of the continent. He finally succeeded on his fifth attempt, an expedition which was financed by the South Australian Government, leaving Adelaide on January 8, 1862.
Stuart and his men stood at the water’s edge at Chambers Bay on the northern coast on July 24, 1862.
