Michael Terry (explorer)

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Michael Terry (born May 3, 1899 in Gateshead , County Durham , England , † September 24, 1981 in Annandale , New South Wales , Australia ) was a British explorer, prospector and writer in Australia.

Early years

Michael Terry was the eldest of three children of Michael Terry, a mechanical engineer, and his wife Katie, nee Neagle. Michael went to school until 1914. He did not learn a trade and instead took on various and temporary jobs.

In 1917 he joined the Royal Naval Air Service and served in pre-revolutionary Russia. He was captured by the Bolsheviks and released soon after. Having become ill with lungs, he was taken to a clinic on his return to England. After his discharge from military service in September 1918, Terry embarked on a boat trip to Australia in November 1918 and arrived in Fremantle on January 31, 1919 . In Perth worked as a mechanic until 1920 and then in Sydney as a car salesman and founded a transport company.

Voyages of discovery

From February to October 1923 Michael Terry drove a 1913 Ford Model T and another driver from Winton in Queensland to Broome in Western Australia . When he wrote travel reports about it, he became known. In May 1924 the Royal Geographical Society commissioned him to give lectures on his experiences in the outback . In 1925 he was awarded the organization's Cuthbert Peek Award .

He wanted to carry out his other expeditions with motorized vehicles. In the years from 1923 to 1935 he undertook 14 expeditions to central Australia, which were financed by mining companies. In 1925 he drove from Darwin to Broome in Western Australia in Caterpillar-Track trucks . In 1928 he led an expedition of six wheeled trucks from Port Hedland in Western Australia to Melbourne in Victoria . From 1929 to 1933 he undertook various expeditions to central Australia. He carried out the expeditions in 1932 and 1933 exclusively with camels. From 1934 to 1936 he looked for rare ores at Laverton in Western Australia.

Other life

In 1938 he returned to England and married Ursula Joan Livingstone-Learmonth in London. When the bride and groom returned to Sydney in October, the bride's father refused to recognize the marriage. Ursula returned to England shortly afterwards. The marriage was legally annulled in November 1944.

In World War II, Terry served in the British counterintelligence. After the war he settled in Terrigal , which is north of Sydney. In 1960 he returned to central Australia and devoted himself to his writing.

Michael Terry was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Geographical Society of Australia in 1924 . He was also a Freemason and a member of the Pathfinder Association of New South Wales .

Afterlife

In 1987, his sister Charlotte Barnard completed and published his autobiography The Last Explorer posthumously. A picture of Terry and his camel "Dick" was printed on an AUD 10 note on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his death . In 1957 the Terry Range in Western Australia was named after him.

Works

  • 1925 - Across Unknown Australia: a thrilling account of exploration in the Northern Territory of Australia. Herbert Jenkins: London
  • 1927 - Through a Land of Promise: with gun, car and camera in the heart of Northern Australia. Herbert Jenkins: London
  • 1931 - Hidden Wealth and Hiding People. Putnam: London
  • 1932 - Untold Miles: three gold-hunting expeditions amongst the picturesque borderland ranges of Central Australia. Selwyn & Blount: London
  • 1937 - Sand and Sun: two gold-hunting expeditions with camels in the dry lands of Central Australia. Michael Joseph: London
  • 1945 - Bulldozer: the war role of the Department of Main Roads, New South Wales. Frank Johnson: Sydney
  • 1974 - War of the Warramullas. Rigby: Adelaide. ISBN 0-85179-790-3

Autobiography

  • Michael Terry (1987): The Last Explorer. The autobiography of Michael Terry . Australian National University Press: Canberra. ISBN 0-08-034398-8

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c adb.anu.edu.au : Mickey Dear: Terry, Michael (1899–1981) . Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ trove.nla.gov.au : Terry, Michael (1899-1981) . Retrieved April 12, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Terry, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British explorer, prospector and writer in Australia
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Gateshead , County Durham , England
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1981
Place of death Annandale , New South Wales , Australia