Why was Charles Sturt remembered?

Answer 1

Captain Charles Sturt was significant for his contribution to Australian exploration in the 1800s.

After he came to Australia in 1827, he aimed to solve the mystery of where the inland rivers of New South Wales flowed. The rivers appeared to flow towards the centre of the continent, so it was believed that they emptied into an inland sea. Sturt first followed the Macquarie River as far as the Darling, which he named after Governor Darling.

Pleased with what Sturt had discovered, Governor Darling sponsored Sturt's expedition to trace the course of the Murrumbidgee River, and to see whether it joined to the Darling. This was in 1829-1830. On this expedition, Sturt discovered that the Murrumbidgee River flowed into the Murray (which Huma and Hovell had named the Hume), as did the Darling. Sturt was able to follow the Murray River in a collapsible whaleboat, and he found that it flowed to the southern ocean, emptying out at Lake Alexandrina on the southern coast. The expedition was significant as it opened up Australia's inland waterways to the transportation of people and goods.

Sturt led further expeditions into Australia's interior to decide for once and for all whether there was an inland sea, but he found only the desert and harsh conditions, completely unsuitable for settlement. In 1851, Sturt returned to England, where he died on 16 June 1869. He is commemorated by the City of Charles Sturt and suburb of Sturt in Adelaide, Charles Sturt University in regional New South Wales, and the Sturt Highway from Wagga Wagga to Adelaide.