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Was born at Sandbank on the
Clyde, Scotland, in 1819, and emigrated to Sydney when 17 years of age. He
began his colonial experience with an uncle who was a squatter, and
afterwards made his way to near the border of South Australia, where he
took up land between there and the Darling. He was interested in the
aborigines of the district, and his knowledge of their ways was of great
use to him when he became an explorer. In 1861 he was asked by the South
Australian government to organize an expedition to search for the Burke
(q.v.) and Wills (q.v.) party about whose fate there was then much
anxiety. McKinlay left Adelaide on 16 August 1861 with nine other men, 70
sheep, two packhorses and four camels. On 20 October the grave of Gray was
found near Cooper's Creek. McKinlay sent word of this to the government,
and soon afterwards learned that the remains of Burke and Wills had also
been found. He decided to explore in the direction of Mount Stuart, but
was driven back by heavy rains and floods. McKinlay then decided to make
for the Gulf of Carpentaria, hoping to find the vessel which had been sent
to meet Burke's party. The shores of the Gulf were thought to be only four
or five miles away, on 20 May 1862, but the intervening country was very
difficult, and it was decided to turn in an easterly direction and make
for Port Denison on the shores of northern Queensland. A station on the
Bowen River near Port Denison was reached on 2 August, and, after a few
days rest, Port Denison. The party then returned by sea to Adelaide.
McKinlay received a grant of £1000 from the government and a gold watch
from the Royal Geographical Society of England.
In 1863 McKinlay married
Miss Pile, the daughter of an old friend, but was not allowed to settle
down for long. In September 1865 he was sent to explore the Northern
Territory and to report on the best sites for settlement. It was an
exceptionally rainy season and while on the Alligator River the expedition
was surrounded by flood waters. With great resource McKinlay, having
killed his horses, constructed a raft with their hides and made a perilous
journey to the coast. He reported favourably on the country near Anson Bay
as being suitable for settlement. After his return he took up pastoral
pursuits near the town of Gawler in South Australia, and died there on 31
December 1872. A monument to his memory was erected at Gawler in 1875.
McKinlay was a man of fine
physique, 6 feet 3½ inches high, modest and unassuming. He was an
excellent bushman, making little of his privations, knowing when to push
on and when to be cautious, and though he made only two expeditions, he
ranks among the great explorers of Australia. |
