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waters he recorded the trading of biscuits and water for tortoise shell with Torres Straits Islanders in outrigger
canoes; that Gregory taught him to float near Quail Island; and how he tricked thieving sailors by pouring croton
oil into the rum he had taken expressly for biological preservation. With some satisfaction he looked ‘knowing’ at
their subsequent discomfort. When Gregory took men and stock ashore to go overland from Treachery Bay, Elsey
stayed with the sea party to enter the Victoria River. He described the next month as one of ‘anxiety and misery’,
mainly due to the dissension and disruption caused by the schooner’s argumentative and ill-tempered skipper,
David Gourlay. Order was soon restored after Gregory’s arrival on 29 October. Fresh water was found and a base
camp established at Timber Creek.
Various members of the party were treated for malaria, opthalmia, conjunctivitis and prickly heat. Elsey kept
himself busy during Gregory’s absence. He made several short zoological excursions away from the depot camp
taking with him two Aborigines, Drand and Deartijelo. His bush surgery consisted of a leafy shack furnished with
upturned casks serving as tables and accommodating an extraordinary array of medicine bottles and specimen jars
surrounded by ‘string, threads, needles... cottonwool, knives and dissecting cases’. He collected insects, beetles,
birds and butterflies, kept a diary, a meteorological register and began to study geology. He said that his duties
included everything ‘that a surgeon and naturalist to the North Australian Exploring Expedition would fancy on
leaving England that he might expect to have done for him. But... he must do it... or he is sadly in the lurch’.
Jubilant in the knowledge that he was to join Gregory’s trek from the Victoria River to Brisbane, Elsey wrote,
‘I am going with the next party of exploration. I am free. Hip, hip, hurrah, whack fol the riddle—dol bow wow
wow, bah bah.’ Beforehand he helped Gregory to update correspondence and official dispatches.
With the Gregory brothers, botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, and three stockmen, Elsey headed east from the
Victoria River and travelled 3 900 kilometres to Brisbane. On the way he often rode ahead with Gregory to assess
the nature of the land. In the heart of territory to be known as the ‘Never Never’, Gregory named Elsey Creek to
honour the young surgeon. Elsey later described the journey as a steeplechase across the continent ‘at 15 miles
a day, and performed in 6 months what it had taken Leichhardt 15 months to accomplish’. Though he was
disappointed that many of his specimens were rubbed and chafed by the ‘grinding motion’ of the packsaddles
and rendered unsuitable for stuffing, they remained useful for determining species. He left Brisbane with Gregory
aboard Yarra Yarra on Christmas Day 1856. At Sydney Governor-General Sir William Denison received the
explorers.
Elsey, who was mentioned by Gregory in an official letter to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, returned to
England in March 1857 on Alnwick Castle. He took with him ornithological and zoological specimens collected in
northern Australia. Gould was impressed by the variety, including new species the lilac-crowned wren, the buff-sided
robin and the golden-shouldered parrot, by bird specimens and the integrity of his field-book. John Gray, zoologist
at the British Museum, commended Elsey’s collection of tropical insects and exotic butterflies. He gave a new
tortoise the generic name Elseya. Afflicted by a chronic chest disease, Elsey’s health was seriously impaired after
the rigorous expedition and he went immediately to recuperate in the Shetland Islands. Toward the end of the year
he refused a medical post in the Seychelles Islands in favour of a naturalist’s position in the West Indies. But his
health continued to deteriorate and he died on 31 December 1857. He was a man of rare talents and dedication who
made a valuable contribution to natural history. It was fitting that Mueller should have named a liana Ripogenum
elseyanum as a tribute to his ‘beloved travelling companion’.
W Birman, Gregory of Rainworth, 1979; J R Elsey, Diary 1855–1856, NLA; J R Elsey, Letters 1885–1856, NLA; F von Mueller, Letter to
Elsey’s father, 20 March 1858, NLA.
WENDY BIRMAN, Vol 1.ENGLAND, JOHN ARMSTRONG (1911–1985), bank officer, primary producer, soldier, politician and
Administrator, was born on 12 October 1911 at Clayfield, Queensland, to Mr and Mrs S W England. He was educated
at Murwillumbah, New South Wales, and Brisbane Boys’ College. Between 1928 and 1947 he was employed as a
bank officer, in the timber industry and as Manager of Wilga, a property near Grenfell in New South Wales, which
he ultimately purchased. A keen citizen soldier before the outbreak of war, after 1939 he served with the Army both
in Australia and overseas. He attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was Mentioned in Despatches. He was
later awarded the Efficiency Decoration (ED). He married Polly W Wheatley on 16 December 1939 and had three
sons and one daughter. They lived on Wilga, which England ran until elected to the Commonwealth House of
Representatives as the Country Party representative for Calare in 1960. He held the seat until his retirement from
politics in 1975. In 1976 he was appointed the Administrator of the Northern Territory.
He was appointed at a time when the Territory was moving quite rapidly towards self-government.
Many Territorians had hoped that the new Administrator would be a local resident, following on the precedent
set with the previous appointment of Jock Nelson. Nevertheless, England had the good will of most of the local
politicians, particularly the then Majority Leader, Dr Goff Letts, who had voiced considerable irritation over the
length of time Canberra had taken in making the appointment.
During the Englands’ residence in Government House several alterations and repairs were made to the building,
which had been damaged by Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
However, by far the most significant change in which they participated was the granting to the Northern Territory
of self-government in 1978. From this time the Administrator’s role was much more symbolic than previously.
England participated prominently in the self-government ceremonies of July 1978. Behind the scenes he played
a significant role in easing tensions and smoothing relations between Darwin and Canberra during the transition
period immediately prior to July 1978. As political historian Alistair Heatley wrote, England’s ‘background in