Full Name Peter Egerton Years active 1853-1867 Title Commissioner of Police | Occupation Commissioner of Police Notable work CMG, 1875 Name Peter Warburton Awards Patron\'s Gold Medal | |
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Education Private tutors, England and France (Orleans and Paris) Organization Colony of South Australia Books An Expedition North-East and North-West of Lake Eyre: The Diary and Despatches of Major Warburton ... 1866 Resting place St Matthew\'s Church, Kensington, South Australia | ||
A fisherman s memoriam a peter warburton production
Colonel Peter Egerton-Warburton CMG (1813-1889), was a British military officer, Commissioner of Police for South Australia, and an Australian explorer. In 1872 he sealed his legacy through a particularly epic expedition from Adelaide crossing the arid centre of Australia to the coast of Western Australia via Alice Springs.
Contents
- A fisherman s memoriam a peter warburton production
- Origins and early Naval and Military Career
- Australia Exploration and Police Career
- Expeditions
- Later life
- Honours and Works
- References
Origins and early Naval and Military Career
Peter Egerton-Warburton was born into the aristocratic Egerton family on 16 August 1813 at Norley, Cheshire, England, a son of Rev. Rowland Egerton BA. He was one of the younger brothers of the landowner and benefactor Rowland Egerton-Warburton, who inherited the ancestral title and estates. He was educated at home in Cheshire and by tutors in France before being commissioned in the Royal Navy at the age of 12, serving as a Midshipman in HMS Windsor Castle.
He was then seconded to the Indian Army and served in India from 1831 until 1853, before retiring as Deputy Adjutant-General with the rank of Major.
Egerton-Warburton married on 8 October 1838 Alicia (who died 1892), daughter of Henry Mant, a solicitor, however by the time of his arrival in Australia, he had adopted the name Peter Egerton-Warburton. This came about because his father, Rowland Egerton, was in remainder to the Egerton baronetcy, and so assumed by Royal Licence the additional surname of Warburton in accordance with the terms of his wife's inheritance, viz. the Arley and Warburton estates.
Australia - Exploration and Police Career
In 1853 Egerton-Warburton visited his brother George and his wife Augusta (daughter of Sir Richard Spencer), in Albany, Western Australia. George was a pioneer settler near Mount Barker and his sister-in-law, Eliza Grey, had married (Sir) George Grey, Governor of South Australia 1841-45 and New Zealand 1845-54. Through these connections, Egerton-Warburton continued to South Australia to take up the position of Commissioner of Police in the Colony of South Australia, effective 8 December 1853, replacing the demoted Alexander Tolmer.
Egerton-Warburton was Commissioner of Police for almost fourteen years. A considerable increase in government finances during this period allowed him to undertake morale-boosting reforms in numerous areas, including rank structures, uniforms, and establishing a policing presence into ever-expanding frontier districts. However he was also greatly excited by the opportunities for exploration in Australia, and because of this preoccupation his administration was somewhat disorganised.
Following an internal police force inquiry in 1867, to which evidence was given against Egerton-Warburton but not disclosed, it was suggested that "... other employment in the Government Service, more congenial to his habits and tastes, should be found for him". Warburton's case divided the community. The allegations against him were never substantiated and he staunchly refused to resign. He was dismissed from his post early in 1867. A subsequent Legislative Council inquiry then recommended his reinstatement; however, on 24 March 1869, he accepted appointment as Chief Staff Officer and Colonel of the Volunteer Military Force of South Australia.
Based on expeditions undertaken, it appears that he was accused of allowing his passionate interest in exploration, which required long periods in isolation, to distract him from normal police duties. Warburton later received further honours in recognition of his groundbreaking exploration work, but not his police service.
Expeditions
Later life
Egerton-Warburton returned to England in 1874, but finding the climate not to his liking, returned to Australia after a stay of only six weeks, after receiving the Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal. In 1875 Warburton's account of the expedition, Journey across the Western Interior of Australia was published in London, and he was appointed CMG.
A son, Rowland James Egerton-Warburton (4 February 1846 – 1918) married Annie Hart ( – 1 December 1913) on 14 May 1872. Annie was a daughter of John Hart.
Partially blinded by the privations of exploration, his remaining years were spent at his estate, named Norley Bank, at Beaumont, near Adelaide, where he had a vineyard. He died 5 November 1889 at that estate and was buried in the churchyard at nearby St Matthew's Church, Kensington.
Honours and Works
The remote village of Warburton, Western Australia, two mountain ranges, the Warburton River, and a beetle (Warburton Beetle, Stigmodera Murrayi) are named after him and he was commemorated by an Australia Post stamp in June 1976, as one of a set of 6 Australian Explorers. Other honours include:
His published works include;