William John Wills: Pioneer of the Australian Outback

In 1860 the Australian outback remained all but unknown to the European settlers. A prize of £2,000 was offered by the Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria for the first expedition successfully to cross the country from Melbourne to the north coast. The Burke & Wills Expedition, led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, a Totnes-born surveyor who had emigrated to Australia at the age of 18 and worked as a shepherd, a gold-digger and an assistant surgeon, set out i...