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DUMONT d’URVILLE, JULES SEBASTIEN CESAR (1790–1842), French naval officer, hydrographer and
explorer, was born at Condre-sur-Noireau, Normandy, on 23 May 1790. He joined the navy at the age of 16 and
showed early interest in exploration, science and ethnology. In 1820, while serving in the Mediterranean, he
reported the discovery of an ancient Greek statue, which he recommended should be acquired for the Louvre.
It later became famous as the Aphrodite of Melos (Venus de Milo). He helped in the formation of the Paris
Geographical Society and began plans for a voyage of scientific discovery to the Pacific.
Between 1822 and 1825 he was Lieutenant on Coquille during her visit to Australia and the Pacific. Upon his
return to France Coquille was renamed Astrolabe and Dumont d’Urville assumed command for a new expedition
to the Pacific. He left France in 1826 and visited King George’s Sound, Westernport and Jervis Bay before sailing
to New Zealand and many Pacific islands. By November 1827 the expedition was exploring the northwest coast
of Australia. In Hobart he heard of an expedition to New Caledonia, which had found evidence of a shipwreck,
believed to be that of La Perouse’s Astrolabe, lost in 1788. He sailed to Vanikoro Island, confirmed that the
wreckage was that of his ship’s namesake, built a mausoleum, and returned to France with relics in March 1829.
On 7 September 1837 Dumont d’Urville again sailed Astrolabe to the Pacific, this time with the corvette Zelee
in attendance. After sighting pack ice, the expedition surveyed the South Orkneys and South Shetlands. In 1828
Dumont d’Urville was off Tahiti and supported Abel de Petit-Thouars’s force, which compelled Queen Pomare to
submit to French demands.
In March 1839 Dumont d’Urville visited Raffles Bay and looked for the remains of Fort Wellington, abandoned
in 1829. All that remained was a wall, part of the powder magazine, part of a forge and a brackish well. Aborigines
had opened the graves of those who died at Fort Wellington in search of iron nails. The French ships were visited
by Lieutenant Stewart, from Victoria settlement at nearby Port Essington, who invited them to the new settlement.
At Victoria Dumont d’Urville was shown the extent of the settlement. He was impressed especially by the energy
and efficiency of Captain Bremer. The houses, he thought, were adequate and gardens had been planted, the fort
was temporary but sufficient for the time and horticultural experiments were progressing well. Lack of water,
partly overcome by the sinking of five wells, and the ravages of insects were assessed by Dumont d’Urville as
serious impediments to the long-term success of the venture. His description of the settlement and his assessment
of its chance of success, unbiased by emotional attachment or sanguine hope, provide a useful benchmark for
objective study of early English attempts to settle the Northern Territory.
Upon leaving northern Australia the expedition visited Hobart before entering Antarctic waters. Aware of
the explorations of James Clark Ross and Charles Wilkes, Dumont d’Urville tried again to penetrate the ice.
He discovered land, part of Antarctica, which he named Terre Adelie, after his wife, on 20 January 1840. Both
ships returned to France in November 1840.
In 1841 Dumont d’Urville was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and became president of the council of the
Paris Geographical Society. He was killed, with his wife and son, in a railway accident near Paris on 8 May 1842.
The publication of the journal of his second voyage, Voyage au Poe Sud et dans l’Oceanie... pendant... 1837–
1838–1839–1840 (1841–1855) was completed posthumously by M Dumoulin, an expedition member. The journal
of his first voyage had appeared between 1829 and 1835. D’Urville Island in Cook Strait is named for him.
C C Macknight (ed), The Farthest Coast, 1969; Peter Kemp (ed), The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, 1976; Australian Encyclopedia,
vol 3.
MURRAY MAYNARD, Vol 1.DUNK, (Sir) WILLIAM ERNEST (1897–1984), public servant, was born in South Australia on 11 December 1897,
the son of Albert Dunk and his wife. He was educated at Kapunda High School and studied accounting, becoming
an Associate of the Australian Society of Accountants. In 1922 he married Elma Kathleen Angas-Evans.
Between 1914 and 1928 he served in the Auditor General’s office of the South Australian government. He was
auditor for the Commonwealth Bank, London between 1934 to 1938, Director of Reciprocal Lend-Lease in the
Department of Treasury, 1939–1945, Secretary of the Department of External Affairs 1945–1947, Chairman,
Commonwealth Public Service Board 1947–1960 and Commissioner of British Phosphates 1962–1970.
In his role as Chairman of the Commonwealth Public Service Board he developed an abiding interest in the
Northern Territory. In his book They Also Serve he said, ‘I tried spasmodically to get more positive action in the
development of the Northern Territory but it was tough going. On the political front it was a long way away and
the voting population microscopic. On the practical side the competition from ‘the south’ for competent staff,
materials and equipment was strong. I recall writing to Mr Menzies before the 1959 election urging him to put
the establishment of a Northern Territory Development Commission into his policy speech. I received a polite
acknowledgment but nothing was done and it was not until the sixties that the Territory began to emerge from
under the blanket of political and bureaucratic laissez faire which had enveloped it from the earliest colonial
days’. He continued, ‘I enjoyed several visits to the Territory and usually managed to get a couple of days with
the Administrator or one of his stock inspectors out on the stock routes which branch from the main road between
Darwin and Alice Springs. The going was rugged but I found the country and the people intensely interesting’.
Dunk had no direct responsibility for operational matters in the Territory as Chairman of the Public Service
Board, nevertheless, he achieved a great deal through influences he was able to exert. As an itinerant Public Service
Inspector I wrote reports after each of my visits. Dunk went through them with me, issuing advice and directions
on all sorts of things. This contrasted with his successor, Sir Frederick Wheeler, who returned my first report to
him endorsed ‘seen but not read’.