Barclay-Macpherson 1911

also known as:

1911 Barclay Expedition
Northern Territory Survey & Exploration Party 1911-12
Northern Territory Survey Expedition

Personnel

composition of party on the section from Central Mount Wedge to Newcastle Waters:
Henry Vere Barclay
Ronald Horace Macpherson    2IC
Gerald Freer Hill    naturalist
John Joseph Waldron    cadet surveyor

hired at Oodnadatta:
Thomas Simpson    cameleer
Bruce Foulis    chainman
Archie Gepp    chainman    discharged in Alice Springs
Edward Collins    cook
Aborigine [Dick]    to help with camels

hired at Old Crown Point:
Whisky Tom    to help with camels

(Strong 1989:49-56)

Route

The location of the camps can be worked out from the descriptions of the country and the occasional Latitude observations recorded in Macpherson's and Hill's journals.

With respect to the June westward excursion from the upper Lander, it is most likely that the camp of 19/6/11 is near White Stone Well in the Lander River, and that of 22/6/11 is at Mt Patricia. Rossiter's (1917) map has the furthest west camp at 21/6/11, and does not show the returning eastward route.

The party used Chewings' Hit or Miss Well, which they called Claypan Well.

Botany

"Following its assumption of responsibility for the Northern Territory, the young Commonwealth Government began investigating the natural resources (including vegetation) of this vast area. In line with this policy, the Barclay Expedition moved north from Oodnadatta on 7 February 1911... Continuing north by way of Lander Creek, on a route about one hundred kilometres west of the present Stuart Highway, the party met the Overland telegraph line again at Newcastle Waters...
Gerald F. Hill was botanical collector on this important expedition and his records, together with those of Dr J.A. Gilruth and Professor W.B. Spencer... provided basic material for [Ewart & Davies 1917]. Hill's main set of specimens and his manuscript diary (with many useful ecological notes) are in Herb. MEL [National Herbarium of Victoria], but NSW [National Herbarium of N.S.W.] and BRI [Queensland Herbarium] hold some duplicate numbers. Between Oodnadatta and latitude 20°S, Hill had collected samples of four hundred plant species, of which eleven were published as new in the above Flora by Ewart. Only three of these are now accepted by the names under which they were described (viz. Acacia hilliana, A. jennerae and Dampiera cinerea) and some have been proved synonymous." (Willis 1981:xvii-xviii)

"Gerald Freer Hill was one of the last eminent naturalists. His major research work was a taxonomic study of termites but Hill also collected mammals, birds and plants. In 1911 Hill was appointed as naturalist and photographer to an expedition under Henry Vere Barclay. The expedition travelled from Adelaide to Borroloola. Alfred Ewart, Government Botanist of Victoria, told Hill that he would be paid five shillings for every new species he collected.
Hill collected more than 600 specimens during the expedition and it was partly the acquisition of these specimens that prompted Ewart to publish (in 1917) with O. B. Davies, The Flora of the Northern Territory. About 30 plant species were named from specimens gathered by Hill."
http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/wildlife/plants/aboutus/collecting.html#scientific

Alice Springs Herbarium A0059196 and A006221 were collected by the G.F. Hill on the Barclay 1911 expedition.
From Notebook 41:
Alfred J. Ewart & Alexander Morrison [d. 8/12/1913]. Contributions to the Flora of Australia, No. 21. The Flora of the Northen Territory (Leguminosae). 1913. Proc Roy Soc Victoria 26(N.S.), Pt. 1, 152-164, 2 plates.

Gastrolobium grandiflorum.
=========================
Seventy miles north C IV. on Lander Creek, G.F. Hill (No. 382), 28/6/1911. [sc. 29/6/1911, by journal]

Crotalaria trifoliastrum
========================
Lat 19 deg S., Long. 132 deg., G.F. Hill (No. 434), 4/7/1911 …

Contact with Aborigines

CRS A659 item 42/1/2696
letter of 19/7/1911, about the leg from Haast Bluff to Newcastle Waters
"We met very few aboriginals, such as we saw were on friendly terms with and obtained photographs and other particulars regarding them."

Excerpt from journal of Gerald F. Hill:

25 SUNDAY [June 1911]
… Native fires were seen in nearly every direction but no natives were seen, nor could we find any springs or waterholes. …

Excerpt from journal of John Joseph Waldron:

7 JULY FRI.
Four blacks, one of whom could speak a few words of English, came up to camp at lunch.

References

See Parker 1973:16,46, Willis 1981:xvii, Gibson 1986:21 for commentary on the records of this expedition.

Gibson, D[avid] F. 1986. A biological survey of the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory. Technical Report - Number 30. Alice Springs: Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory. ISBN 07245 0836 8 ISSN 0729 9990 xiii+258pp.

Hill, Gerald F. Journal. National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra VIC 3141

Hill, Gerald F. "Private Diary, From 11 Jan 1911 to 17 Nov 1911". Viewed with kind permission of his son W.R. Hill, Batemans Bay, 20 May 1987.

Parker, Shane A. 1973. An annotated checklist of the native land mammals of the Northern Territory. Rec. S.A. Mus. 16.11(8 January 1973),1-57.

Rossiter, A.L. 1917. Northern Territory. Showing Route of Barclay Expedition and Characteristic Vegetation. 1914 map endpaper foldout in The Flora of the Northern Territory, by Alfred J. Ewart & Olive B. Davies. Melbourne: Department of Home and Territories.
Note: This map apparently builds on a map of the expedition route prepared by J.J. Waldron; see correspondence in:
Australian Archives (A.C.T. branch). CRS A1 item 36/7290 (Jan)1911-1936(Jly) 4.5cm Botanical specimens of N.T. classification of -- (re production of Ewart & Davies 1917)

Scherer, P.A. 1971. Venture of Faith. 2nd ed. August 1971. Reprint 1975. * includes "Photo by courtesy of Dr. M. Lohe.", with caption "Camel caravan, under Afghan command, hooshta's at Hermannsburg." which shows Barclay-Macpherson 1911 Expedition, including Gerald F. Hill seated on a camel at left of scene. This photo is not in 1st ed.

Strong, B[ruce] W. 1989. Henry Vere Barclay: Centralian Explorer. Alice Springs: Historical Society of the NT and BW Strong. ix+98pp. ISBN 09588093 1 3

Strong, Bruce. (ed.) 1997. Diaries of John Joseph Waldron and Ronald Horace Macpherson. Copy at National Trust, Alice Springs.
John Joseph Waldron's original diary is held at the Museum & Art Gallery of the NT, Darwin.

Willis, J.H. 1981. The history of botanical investigation in central Australia, pp.xiii-xx in Flora of Central Australia, ed. by John P. Jessop. Australian Systematic Botany Society. Sydney: AH & AW Reed. ISBN 0 589 50226 2

Barclay-Macpherson 1911

Personnel

Route

Botany

Contact with Aborigines

References

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