Eyre, Edward John

Eyre, Edward John

▪ British explorer and official

born Aug. 5, 1815, Hornsea, Yorkshire, Eng.
died Nov. 30, 1901, near Tavistock, Devon
 English explorer in Australia for whom Lake Eyre (Eyre, Lake) and the Eyre Peninsula (both in South Australia) are named. He was subsequently a British colonial official.

      Emigrating from England for reasons of health, Eyre reached Australia in March 1833. As a sheep farmer he became a pioneer “overlander,” driving stock from Sydney to Adelaide. He explored the desert northwest of Adelaide and then (June 1840–July 1841) made an extremely hazardous journey around the Great Australian Bight. For several years he served as a magistrate and protector of Aborigines, whose language and customs he learned.

      After leaving Australia in 1845, Eyre was lieutenant governor of New Zealand (1846–53) and of St. Vincent, in the West Indies (1854–60). His service as acting governor of the Leeward Islands (1860–61) and of Jamaica (1861–64) was rewarded with his permanent appointment as governor of Jamaica. On Oct. 11, 1865, a revolt by blacks began at Morant Bay, and, in the repression that followed, the total of executions passed 400. Eyre then caused the island's legislature to abolish itself and the Jamaican constitution (Jan. 17, 1866), whereupon Jamaica became a crown colony. After both commending Eyre for crushing the rebellion and censuring him for taking excessive reprisals, the British government recalled him in July 1866. Eyre's behaviour sparked an intense controversy among prominent British intellectuals; John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, and Thomas Henry Huxley advocated his trial for murder, while his side was taken by Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. A grand jury in London declined to indict him for murder (June 1868), and he was acquitted in a civil case brought against him by a Jamaican.

Additional Reading
Malcolm Uren and Robert Stephens, Waterless Horizons (1941).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • EYRE, Edward JoHN (1815-1901) — explorer came of an old English family: an ancestor Sir Gervas Eyre was killed while fighting for Charles I. Eyre s father, the Rev. Anthony William Eyre, was a clergyman in Yorkshire who married Sarah Mapleton, the daughter of a physician at… …   Dictionary of Australian Biography

  • Eyre, Edward John — ► (1815 1901) Explorador y administrador colonial británico. En 1840, descubrió en Australia Meridional el lago que lleva su nombre …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • EYRE, EDWARD JOHN —    explorer and colonial governor, born in Yorkshire; emigrated to Australia in 1832; successfully explored the interior of SW. Australia in 1841; governor of New Zealand in 1846, of St. Vincent in 1852, and of Jamaica in 1862; recalled in 1865,… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Edward John Eyre — (* 5. August 1815 in Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, oder Hornsea, Yorkshire; † 30. November 1901 in Walreddon Manor in Devon) war ein englischer Forschungsreisender in Australien und Politiker. Bekannt wurde er durch seine Expedition …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Edward John Eyre — Infobox Person name = Edward John Eyre image size = 200px birth date =August 5, 1815 birth place = flagicon|England Whipsnade, England death date = November 30, 1901 death place = flagicon|England Yorkshire, England occupation = Explorer of… …   Wikipedia

  • Edward John Eyre — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Eyre. Edward John Eyre Edward John Eyre né le 5 août 1815 dans le Bedfordshire et mort le 30 novemb …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Edward John Eyre — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Edward Jonh Eire. Edward John Eyre (1815 1901), junto con su amigo originario Wylie, fue el primer blanco en cruzar el sur de Australia de este a oeste, viajando a través de la Nullarbor Plain de Adelaide a Albany.… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Edward John Eyre High School — Located in Grundel Street Whyalla, South Australia, Edward John Eyre High School began life in 1968 as Eyre Technical High School. Built during the boom period of Whyalla s past, the school s population reached around 1300 in the 1970s.Today, as… …   Wikipedia

  • Expedition von Edward John Eyre — Edward John Eyre führte von 1839 bis 1841 drei Expeditionsreisen in Südaustralien durch: Edward John Eyres erste Expedition von 1839 in die Nähe von Lake Torrens Edward John Eyres zweite Expedition von 1839 auf der Eyre Halbinsel Edward John… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Edward Eyre — Expéditions de Eyre Edward John Eyre (5 août 1815 …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”