British army officer Charles Sturt, born in…

British army officer Charles Sturt, born in British India, had joined the British Army in 1813, seen action with the Duke of Wellington in Spain and at Waterloo, and risen to the rank of Captain.

With his regiment, he had escorted convicts to New South Wales and arrived in 1827, keen to explore the Australian interior, especially its rivers.

In 1828, the Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling, sends Sturt and Hamilton Hume to explore the area of the Macquarie River in western New South Wales.

They discover and name the Darling River, but are unable to proceed further.

This expedition, while proving that northern New South Wales is not an inland sea, only deepens the mystery of the fate of the western-flowing rivers of New South Wales.

With access to a well-watered tableland beyond the mountains, the Australian colonists begin to appreciate the possibilities of expanding into the continent’s vast interior.