Francis William Cadell (9 February 1822 – 1879) was a European explorer of Australia, most remembered for opening the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

up for transport by steamship and for his activities as a slave trader.

Early life

Cadell was born in

Cockenzie Cockenzie and Port Seton ( ; ) is a unified town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is on the coast of the Firth of Forth, four miles east of Musselburgh. The burgh of Cockenzie was created in 1591 by James VI of Scotland. Port Seton harbour was bu ...

Haddingtonshire East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the historic county was incorporated for loca ...

, Scotland, the second son of Hew Francis Cadell ( – 27 April 1873), mine-owner and shipbuilder of a notable Scottish family. He first arrived in Australia in January 1849 as captain of the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Royal Sovereign'', visiting Adelaide,

Circular Head Circular Head Council is a local government body in Tasmania covering the far north-west mainland. It is classified as a rural local government area with a population of 8,066, and its major towns and localities include Arthur River, Marrawa ...

and Sydney, sailing in ballast for Singapore in June.

Steaming on the Murray River

In 1850 the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n government had offered a bonus of £4,000 to be equally divided between the owners of the first two iron steamers that should successfully navigate the Murray from Goolwa to the junction of the

Darling River The Darling River (or River Darling; Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka''), is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. Including its long ...

. When Cadell returned to Australia in 1852, he arrived at Port Adelaide in command of the

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century. Clippers were generally narrow for their len ...

''Queen of Sheba''. The government's bonus for the navigation of the Murray River had not been claimed and Cadell stayed in Adelaide, formulating a design for a suitable steamboat in partnership with his father's agent, William Younghusband. After several delays, on 16 August 1853 his steamer ''Lady Augusta'' (named for the wife of Sir

Henry Young Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, KCMG (23 April 1803 – 18 September 1870) was the fifth Governor of South Australia, serving in that role from 2 August 1848 until 20 December 1854. He was then the first Governor of Tasmania, from 1855 until 1861. ...

), commanded by Captain Davidson, successfully passed through the breakers at the mouth of the Murray, and on 25 August left

Goolwa, South Australia Goolwa, known as The Elbow to early settlers, is an historic river port on the Murray River near the Murray Mouth in South Australia. Goolwa is approximately south of Adelaide, and is joined by a bridge to Hindmarsh Island. History The name ...

on a voyage up the Murray with Cadell in command. Among the passengers were the governor, Sir

and Lady Young, after whom the steamer was named. A few months later it was ascertained that the Murray was navigable as far as

Albury, New South Wales Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

and the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

navigable to

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

. Cadell had carried a considerable quantity of wool and much trade was expected with the Riverina squatters. A gold and silver candelabrum was presented by the settlers to Cadell, with an inscription that it had been presented to him "in commemoration of his first having opened the steam navigation and commerce of the River Murray 1853". Cadell was also presented with a gold medal struck by the Legislative Council, and he joined with

William Younghusband William Younghusband (1819 – 5 May 1863), sometimes known as "William Younghusband junior", was a businessman and politician in the colony of South Australia; one of the promoters of the Murray River Steam Navigation Company, which enabled C ...

, George Young and others in forming the River Murray Steam Navigation Company, whose charter received royal assent in 1854. Cadell's claim on being the pioneer of inland navigation on the Murray is contested. J. G. and

William Randell William Richard Randell "Captain Randell" (2 May 1824 – 4 March 1911), was an Australian politician and pioneer born in Devon, England, who emigrated to the newly founded colony of South Australia in 1837 with his family. He was a pioneer o ...

had constructed an earlier steamer which had traded on the Murray as early as March 1853, and at the time of the Cadell's first voyage upstream on ''Lady Augusta'', Randell's ''Mary-Ann'' had progressed further up the river and at a greater speed. Neither of the first two paddle steamers to grace the waters of the Murray River were eligible for the bonus offered by the government. A. T. Saunders was a perennial critic, calling Cadell an "overrated braggart".

Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria

During 1860 Cadell did exploring work in eastern

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

, and attempted to get the Government of Victoria to sponsor the establishment of a steamer service between Melbourne, the Snowy River and the Gippsland Lakes.

Relocation to New Zealand

In 1865 Cadell was in New Zealand employed by the New Zealand government as commandant in the Waikato Steam Transport Service, a support group during the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...

. In March 1865 Cadell was involved in the mutiny of Captain Hannibal Marks, on . Cadell ordered the first mate of ''Sandfly'' to get underway without its captain. When Marks caught the ship in a row boat, he placed the mate under arrest for taking orders from Cadell. Cadell then ordered Marks to reinstate the mate, and fire another crew member. Marks refused and the crew sided with Marks.

1867 expedition to Northern Australia

In February 1867, following the failure of Finniss's settlement at

Escape Cliffs Escape Cliffs is a place on the northern coast of the Northern Territory of Australia, on the western coast of the Cape Hotham peninsula, and the eastern shore of Adam Bay, near the mouth and estuary of the Adelaide River. It lies about 60&nb ...

, the South Australian government sent Cadell to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

"to fix upon a proper site for the survey of ". His ''modus operandi'' was much criticised at the time, for his employment of men from New South Wales rather than experienced South Australians, for choosing the ex-paddle-wheeler ''Eagle'' for transport, and for taking few, if any, horses, without which any inland exploration was futile. He approached the Northern Territory by ship, and his choice of site was influenced by the navigability of the river. He traversed a strait between

Elcho Island Elcho Island, known to its traditional owners as Galiwin'ku (Galiwinku) is an island off the coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Wessel Islands group located in the East Arnhe ...

and the mainland, which

Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...

had previously noted as a ''probable island''. During the expedition an Aboriginal party-member called Tommy tried to desert three times and was imprisoned on the ship. Tommy reportedly drowned whilst making a fourth escape attempt, although Cadell indicated in a separate report that he had in fact been murdered by other party-members.

Later life and death

During the early 1870s, Cadell became involved in

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

trading Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market. Traders generally negotiate throu ...

, pearling and

blackbirding Blackbirding was the trade in indentured labourers from the Pacific in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often described as a form of slavery, despite the British Slavery Abolition Act 1833 banning slavery throughout the British Empire, ...

North-West Australia The North West, North West Coast, North Western Australia and North West Australia, are usually informal names for the northern regions of the State of Western Australia. However, some conceptions of "North West Australia" have included adjoi ...

. Cadell and others became notorious for their coercion, capture and sale of

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

as slaves. The slaves were often detained temporarily at camps known as ''

barracoon A barracoon (an adaptation of Portuguese ''barracão'', an augmentative form of the Catalan loanword ''barraca'' ('hut') through Spanish ''barracón'') is a type of barracks used historically for the internment of enslaved or criminal human bei ...

s'' on

Barrow Island Barrow Island or may Barrow Island''s'' refer to: * Barrow Island, an island located in Western Australia * N. and S. Barrow Islands, a pair of islands located in Queensland, Australia * Barrow Island, a former island in Barrow-in-Furness, Englan ...

, offshore. In 1874 he engaged 10 people at Batavia, described as Malays. In 1875 magistrate Robert Fairbairn was sent to investigate pearling conditions at

Shark Bay Shark Bay () is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage S ...

, following reports that Malays employed by Cadell and Charles Broadhurst were unpaid, unable to return home and some had starved to death. Fairbairn held that Cadell was required to pay the 10 Malays plus an additional 4 months wages as amends for the lack of food, totaling £198. 14s. 4d, equivalent to in . They received just £16. 16s, equivalent to , from the sale of Cadell's property at Shark Bay as Cadell had left the Colony of Western Australia some months previously. Cadell then took up trading in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, and when sailing in the ''Gem'' to the

Kei Islands The Kai Islands (also Kei Islands) of Indonesia are a group of islands in the southeastern part of the Maluku Islands, located in the province of Maluku. The Moluccas have been known as the Spice Islands due to regionally specific plants such ...

near

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

he was murdered by the cook's mate, about March 1879.

References

Sources

* *

External links

The Cadells of Grange and Cockenzie
This genealogy site suggests that "Cadell" should properly be pronounced to rhyme with "paddle". {{DEFAULTSORT:Cadell, Francis 1822 births 1879 deaths 19th-century Scottish businesspeople Australian explorers Australian people in whaling Australian riverboat captains British people murdered abroad explorers of South Australia people from Cockenzie and Port Seton Scottish explorers Scottish murder victims 19th-century Scottish slave traders