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Toward the end of his life and after the death of Alice in their Harvey Street, Darwin, home in 1929, Cooper’s
hunting activities were curtailed by rheumatism and he spent much of his time visiting Reuben’s logging camps
on the Cobourg Peninsula. He died in Darwin Hospital on 7 August 1936, and is buried in the Darwin Gardens
Cemetery.
E Hill, The Territory, 1970; D J Mulvaney & J H Calaby, So Much That Is New, 1985; W Baldwin Spencer, Wanderings in Wild Australia,
1928; ADB vol 8, 1981; Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 13 March 1886, 26 June 1886 & 23 June 1911; South Australian Register,
26 June 1895 & 27 May 1897; AA, Canberra, CRS Al 12/627; AA, Darwin, F108; F5 A131; SAA, Accession Nos 227/26 June 1895, 132,
318/1 July 1910; Letters RJ Cooper and P Cahill to W Baldwin Spencer; Spencer Collection, AIAS, MS 71, Item 4, Paper 13; Government
Residents’ Reports 1913, 1914–15 & 1915.
ANNE BRIGGS, Vol 1.
CORBOULD, WILLIAM HENRY (1886–1969), miner, commonly called Jimmy’, was born at Ballarat
on 5 November 1886. His father, William Corbould, was a tailor. His mother was Julia Augusta, nee Signell.
The young Corbould was educated at Ballarat College and the Ballarat School of Mines.
After graduation, Corbould worked at mines in South Australia and Broken Hill before he began, in 1888,
a three-year journey to study ore deposits and metallurgy around the world. Initially he took a job as general
‘useful’ at the Flora Bell mine, south of Grove Hill and not far from Union Reefs, in the Northern Territory.
His main work was assaying but he displayed his unusual talent for assessing ore deposits when he persuaded the
manager to sink a new shaft at a spot which looked promising and found rich silver.
Corbould’s stay in the Territory was only about a year but in this time he made many friends. He knew the
Millar brothers (of railway fame) well, and used to visit other mining identities such as Olaf Jensen at Pine Creek
and Francis Drake at the Eveleen. These visits were undertaken on horseback. He also developed a liking and
respect for the Chinese. At one stage he wrote notes on the outback for V L Solomon and these appeared in the
local paper.
Corbould said that he knew the Territory as well as, and probably better than, most and concluded that there
was at that time no hope for profitable business for some three hundred kilometres south of Palmerston. He put
forward several reasons, including poor soil, three months of heavy rain, and a long dry season. He observed that
while the Northern Territory had all the discomforts of the tropics it had none of the comforts or facilities for
reasonable living conditions away from the coast. He assessed the mineral areas as being too scattered and small in
extent and seemingly of no great depth, although he acknowledged there was a possibility of large areas of payable
wolfram and tin.
Corbould subsequently went to the United States and Britain where he studied mines and smelters. He
managed a mine at Bathurst, reorganised the teamsters there and sat for and passed an examination to qualify
as a mine manager at a few days’ notice. He later managed the Mount Elliott mines at Cloncurry and finally
established the original Mount Isa Mines Ltd. He spent the last years of his life in Monte Carlo where he died on
16 March 1969.
I Hore-Lacy, From Broken Hill to Mt Isa, 1981; Northern Territory Times and Gazette 1888–91; Government Resident, Annual Reports
1888–91.
T G JONES, Vol 1.
COSTELLO, JOHN (1838–1923), explorer, pastoralist and entrepreneur, was born on 31 March 1838 in Yass,
New South Wales. He was the fifth child of Michael Costello, storekeeper and grazier, and his wife Mary, nee Tully.
His parents came from Ireland in 1837. Their four Irish-born children died on the voyage from Tipperary to
Sydney. The family settled in Yass where they were the proprietors of the prosperous store, which they sold
after 1851 and bought 400 hectares at Grabben Gullen near Goulburn. They became respected members of the
Irish-Catholic community and it was during these years that Costello began to develop his knowledge of the bush
and his unerring sense of direction. By the age of 16, with little formal education, he was becoming well known
as a rider and horse-breaker.
In 1862 his young sister Mary married Patrick Durack who shared Costello’s interests in horses and adventures
in new lands.
In 1863 Costello set off on his first expedition in an attempt to take up land in South-western Queensland.
Shortage of water, poor stock and problems with Aborigines caused him to turn back after four months. Undaunted
he tried again, taking his bride Mary Scanlan, whom he had married in 1865, and other members of his family,
including his parents who had reluctantly agreed to finance the venture.
The family set off with two hundred cattle and fifteen horses to form a depot at Warroo Springs in northern
New South Wales. In 1867 the Duracks joined them and they took up grazing rights on Mobell Creek, 480 kilometres
further north. It was a time of drought, and sickness affected the family; Costello’s young son John died of fever.
They had an excess of horses and Costello travelled down to Kapunda in South Australia, taking two hundred
horses to sell and returning with a profit of 3 000 Pounds on the sale.
In April 1868 the Duracks and Costellos moved northwest to a tributary of Cooper’s Creek. The Duracks settled
at Thylungra and the Costellos built their homestead 40 kilometres downstream at Kyabra. Although the next few
years were lean and prices of stock were low Costello’s earlier astuteness paid dividends. In the early 1870s the
Duracks and Costellos had taken up large areas of land ‘on speculation’ and thus in the late 1870s were able to sell
off much of the land. Costello not only sold the land to make a profit but also often helped out friends and settlers