Ernest Favenc (21 October 1845 – 14 November 1908) was an explorer of Australia, a journalist, author of verse, novels and short stories, and an historian.

Personal life

Favenc was born in

Walworth Walworth ( ) is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the ...

, Surrey, England. Of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

descent, he was the son of Abraham George Favenc, merchant, and his wife Emma, née Jones. He was educated at the Werdersches Gymnasium,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and at Temple College, Cowley, Oxfordshire. Favenc arrived in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1864, and, after being in the colony for about a year, in a commercial position, he afterwards worked in the pastoral industry in the frontier squatting districts of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Favenc married Elizabeth Jones Matthews on 15 November 1880 in Sydney. Favenc died at his

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

home in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 14 November 1908, and was survived by Elizabeth Jane and their daughter.

Exploration

In July 1878 the proprietor of ''

The Queenslander ''The Queenslander'' was the weekly summary and literary edition of the ''Brisbane Courier'', the leading journal in the colony (later state) of Queensland since the 1850s. ''The Queenslander'' was launched by the Brisbane Newspaper Company in ...

'' newspaper employed him to explore the country along the western border of Queensland to Darwin to evaluate the possibility of connecting the

Queensland Railways Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both suburban and interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well as long-distance passenger t ...

Port Darwin Port Darwin is the port in Darwin, Northern Territory, and is the most northerly port in Australia. The port has operated in a number of locations, including Stokes Hill Wharf, Cullen Bay, and East Arm Wharf. Since 2015, the port has bee ...

. The journey took him six months, and he reported that such a line would be feasible. Unusually for the period, his wife Emma was also part of the expedition party. In the early 1880s he also undertook expeditions in the country to the south of the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

and to the headwaters of the Murchison,

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gascoyne has about of ...

and Ashburton rivers of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. In 1882 he and his wife were on

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

when they were joined by Emily and Harry Alington Creaghe who had married the year before. They intended to explore and they travelled by sea to Normanton and landed on 17 January 1883.

Writing

Favenc's first publication was ''The Great Austral Plain'' in 1887. ''The Last of Six: Tales of the Austral Tropics'' appeared in 1893, followed by ''The Secret of the Australian Desert'' (a short novel) in 1895, ''Marooned on Australia'' and ''The Moccasins of Silence'', both in 1896. Favenc also wrote under the pseudonym of "Dramingo", often for ''

'', and was an accomplished pencil sketcher. He also published romances, children's stories and verse as well as several books on exploration, the most extensive being ''The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888''. On the original launch of this book in 1888 the Sydney, Australia ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' reported:

Affiliations

Favenc attended the inaugural meetings of the Johnsonian Club in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland in 1878 and the Savage Club in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, South Australia in 1883. From 1883 there are references to Favenc being known to his friends as "the pard".

Works

* ''A Romance of Kangaroo Point'' (1876). (written as "Dramingo" and first published in ''The Queenslander'') * ''The Great Austral Plain'' (1887). * ''The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888'' (1888). * ''The Last of Six: Tales of the Austral Tropics'' (1893). * ''The Secret of the Australian Desert'' (1895). * ''The Moccasins of Silence'' (1896). * ''Marooned on Australia: Being the Narration by Diedrich Buys of his Discoveries and Exploits in Terra Australis Incognita'' (1896). * ''The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work'' (1908).

References

External links

Works by Favenc
a
Project Gutenberg of Australia
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Favenc, Ernest 1845 births 1908 deaths Explorers of Australia 19th-century Australian historians 19th-century Australian writers Colony of New South Wales people Writers from New South Wales 19th-century Australian novelists 19th-century Australian short story writers 19th-century Australian poets 19th-century Australian journalists 19th-century Australian male writers Australian male journalists