David Lindsay (explorer)

Portrait of David Lindsay

David Lindsay (born June 20, 1856 in Goolwa , South Australia , Australia , † December 17, 1922 in Darwin , Australia) was an explorer and businessman in early Australia.

Early life

His parents, John Scott Lindsay and his wife Catherine (nee Reid), were Scots from Dundee who immigrated to Australia .

In 1871, at the age of 15, David Lindsay was working in a chemical business. He was trained as an explorer by the government in 1873 and was later employed in the position of junior explorer in the office of the Department of the Northern Territory in Palmerston, near Darwin.

On March 10, 1881, he married Annie Theresa Stuart Lindsay, with whom he was not related despite the fact that they had the same name.

Expedition traveler and businessman

In 1879 he left the ministry and now pursued private interests, traded in real estate and livestock and was active in construction.

When the government of South Australia commissioned him to explore the central and eastern areas of Arnhem Land (an area in the far northeast of the Northern Territory) in 1883 , he was violently attacked by the local Aborigines during this expedition , in which he himself had to fend off an attack by over 300 Aborigines with weapons.

On another expedition from 1885 to 1886 he came to the Gulf of Carpentaria and followed the Finke River to its mouth. Lindsay explored the unknown area between the telegraph line and the Queensland border , explored the MacDonnell Ranges and came to the Simpson Desert . He spent half a year exploring the area between the small town of Lake Nash and Powell Creek.

In a five-week ride over a distance of 2253 kilometers, which he rode together with an Aborigine , he reached the east coast of Australia. He was then accepted as a member of the Royal Geographical Society in London .

He also discovered a minable gold deposit at Port Darwin and a rich mica deposit in the MacDonnell Range during an 1888 expedition . From 1889 Lindsay was active as a stock trader on the Adelaide Stock Exchange .

Eucalyptus tree marked by David Lindsay on July 21, 1891 on the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition

From May 1891 he led the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition with 44 camels, which had been equipped by Sir Thomas Elder and lasted until March 1892. The results of this expedition were mediocre in terms of expectation. The explored land did not have an adequate water supply, it was unsuitable for animal husbandry and arable farming. The 6,886-kilometer expedition mapped approximately 200,000 square kilometers of unknown land. Remarkable However, he found traces of gold at Coolgardie When gold was actually found at Coolgardie, Lindsay drove camels there, sold them at a high profit and worked there as a prospector and stock trader.

From 1895 to 1897 he was in London on business, where he became colonial manager of Scottish Westralia Ltd and built up the Electric Power Supply Co. , which was to supply the gold fields with electricity. In 1897 Lindsay returned to Adelaide and later went to Sydney .

In 1913 he was involved in the development of docks and railroad lines in the Northern Territory, as well as cattle stations and frozen meat facilities on the MacArthur River ; the latter failed completely. In the last years of his life he turned to cotton growing before he died on December 17, 1922, possibly from a heart valve disease.

personality

In his younger years he was athletic, tall, muscular and had a long beard. His leadership style was autocratic, but characterized by competence.

Others

In his sketch Joys and Sorrows of a Well-Read , Karl May equates the historical Lindsay with his fictional character "Sir David Lindsay". A visitor mentions his name:

"Lindsay?" I start up. "Do you know him?"

"I mean it! Do you know where he is now?"

"No, unfortunately no. He went to Australia on my advice to cross the mainland on camels and, as all the major newspapers read, brought this difficult expedition to a happy end and not only gold, but also What I think is even better, discovered very handsome coal fields. I do not know where it is now. "

"So you have the right man in front of you to find out, because I was with him during this overland trip and stayed with him for a long time later. When I went to Germany a few months ago, he told me, To visit you and give you a letter from him. " (Karl May, joys and sorrows of a well-read ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} adb.anu.edu.au : Suzanne Edgar: Lindsay, David (1856–1922) , in English, accessed on November 11, 2012
2. ^ Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition . In: Monoment Australia undated, accessed April 6, 2010.
3. ↑ In: German House Treasure. No. 1, 23rd year (1896/97).

Web links

• Entry in karl-may-wiki.de