| AdminHistory | Sir Pawel Edmund Strzelecki (1797 - 1873) also known as Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, was a Polish explorer and geologist.
Strzelecki was born on 24 June 1797 in Gluszyna (then part of South Prussia, today part of Nowe Miasto, Poznan), Greater Poland, in 1797, the third child of Franciszek Strzelecki, a Polish nobleman (szlachcic) leasing land, and his wife, Anna Raczynska. He taught himself geology and, after spending a short time in the Prussian army, he sampled minerals and soils in North and South America, then travelled through the Pacific islands to New Zealand. He reached Sydney in April 1939, with letters of introduction to the Governor of New South Wales, Sir George Gipps. At the request of Gipps, he made a geological and mineralogical survey of the Gippsland region in present-day eastern Victoria, where he made many discoveries. He discovered gold in 1839, but Gipps feared the effects of gold on the colony and persuaded Strzelecki to keep his discovery secret.
Later in 1839 Strzelecki set out on an expedition into the Australian Alps and explored the Snowy Mountains with James Macarthur, James Riley and two Aboriginal guides: Charlie Tarra and Jackey. In 1840 he climbed the highest peak on mainland Australia and named it Mount Kosciuszko, to honour Tadeusz Kosciuszko. From 1840 to 1842, based in Launceston, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land), Strzelecki explored nearly every part of the island, usually on foot with three men and two pack horses. The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Franklin, and his wife, Lady Jane, assisted him with his scientific endeavours. Strzelecki left Tasmania on 29 September 1842 by steamer and arrived in Sydney on 2 October. He was collecting specimens in northern New South Wales towards the end of that year, and on 22 April 1843 he left Sydney after having travelled 11,000 kilometres (7,000 miles) through New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, examining the geology along the way. He went to England after visiting China, the East Indies and Egypt. In 1845 he published his Physical Description of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land which was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in May 1846. In 1845 he became a naturalised British subject. During the Great Irish Famine of 1846, Strzelecki was appointed an agent of the British Relief Association and helped poor Irish families seek new lives in Australia as well as distribute supplies. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and the Royal Society. He died on 6 October 1873. |