Charles Sturt

Charles Sturt (1795-1869), British explorer and public official in Australia. After 13 years in the British army, he was appointed military secretary to the New South Wales governor. Between 1828 and 1830, on two trips into the Australian interior, he discovered the Darling, Murray, and Murrumbidgee river systems. Recuperating from these trips, which had left him in ill health, he wrote Two Expeditions in the Interior of Southern Australia, 1821-31, which encouraged the British colonization of South Australia. On another expedition (1844-46) he reached the Simpson Desert, near the center of the continent. Sturt served (1849-51) as colonial secretary in Australia.