Alfred William Howitt (17 April 1830 – 7 March 1908), also known by
author abbreviation A. W. Howitt, was an Australian
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
, explorer and
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
. He was known for leading the
Victorian Relief Expedition, which set out to establish the fate of the ill-fated
Burke and Wills expedition.
Biography

Howitt was born on 17 April 1830, in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, England, the son of authors
William Howitt and
Mary Botham.
He went to the
Victorian gold fields in 1852 with his father and brother to visit his uncle,
Godfrey Howitt. Initially, Howitt was a geologist in
Victoria; later, he worked as a gold warden in North
Gippsland. Howitt went on to be appointed Police magistrate & Warden Crown Lands Commissioner; later still, he held the position of Secretary of the Mines Department.
In 1861, the
Royal Society of Victoria appointed Howitt leader of the Victorian Relief Expedition, with the task of establishing the fate of the
Burke and Wills expedition. Howitt was a skilled bushman; he took only the necessary equipment and a small crew on the journey to
Cooper Creek. There, on 16 September he found sole survivor
John King;
Howitt buried
Burke and
Wills before returning to
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
with King. On a follow-up expedition to Cooper Creek in 1862, Howitt recovered the bodies of Burke and Wills
[ for burial at the Melbourne General Cemetery.
Howitt collected botanical specimens during his expeditions in north-eastern South Australia, south-western ]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 ...
and western 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 ...
; his collections were sent to Baron von Mueller and are now in Melbourne.
Howitt researched the culture and society of Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
, in particular kinship and marriage; he was influenced by the theories of evolution and anthropology. Howitt's major work (co-authored with Lorimer Fison) was ''" Kamilaroi and Kurnai"'' (1879), which was recognised internationally as a landmark in the development of the modern science of anthropology; this work was used by others, including the twentieth century anthropologist Norman Tindale.
In 1863, he married Maria (nickname 'Liney') Boothby; they had five children. Maria was the daughter of Judge Benjamin Boothby, Chief Justice of the Colony of South Australia. Howitt was Secretary for Mines in Victoria.[
]
In 1903, Howitt was awarded the Clarke Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales
The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Society traces its ...
; in 1904 he received the first Mueller Medal from the Royal Society of Victoria. A memorial fund established after his death was used to buy rare books on topics such as anthropology, geology, and botany for the library of the Royal Society; these books were inscribed ''"Purchased from A. W. Howitt Memorial Fund"''. He was appointed CMG in the 1906 Birthday Honours.
Howitt died on 7 March 1908, aged 77, in Bairnsdale
Bairnsdale (locally ) (Gunai language, Ganai: ''Wy-yung'') is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, situated in a region traditionally inhabited by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people. The estimated popu ...
. The recreational park named in his honour is located adjacent to the Mitchell River Bridge on the eastern side of Bairnsdale.
Howitt's scientific life shared a special irony with that of his longtime friend Lorimer Fison. They were both set in motion by Lewis Henry Morgan; Morgan pinned more hope on Fison than on Howitt. However, Fison gave up his scientific pursuit shortly after Morgan's death, whereas Howitt persevered for many years. Howitt's magnum opus, ''The Native Tribes of South East Australia'' (1904), remains one of the only contemporaneous scientific studies of the native institutions of Central Australian Aborigines.
Recognition
Mount Howitt in Victoria, and Howitt Hall, one of Monash University
Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...
's Halls of Residence are named after him. Howitt Street in Kingston Canberra, Howitt street in Traralgon and a major street in Porsche suburb of Kingston is also named after him. It is likely that Howitt, a locality beside 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 ...
in Queensland, is named after him as many localities in the area are named after those connected to the Burke and Wills expedition.
References
*
*
*Howitt, Alfred William, 1870, 15 March 1870. "Experiences in Central Australia". ''Gippsland Times''.
*Howitt, Alfred William, 1878. "Notes on the Aborigines of Coopers Creek". In R. B. Smyth (Ed.), ''The Aborigines of Victoria''.
*Howitt, Alfred William, 1889. "Note as to descent in the Dieri tribe". ''Journal of the Anthropological Institute''. Vol. 19, p. 90.
*Howitt, Alfred William, 1890. "The Dieri and other kindred tribes of Central Australia". ''Journal of the Anthropological Institute''. Vol. 20, pp. 30–104.
*
*Howitt, Alfred William, 1898. "Reminiscences of Central Australia". ''Alma Mater''. Vol. 3 (No. 1).
*
*Howitt, Alfred William, 1907. "Personal reminiscences of Central Australia and the Burke and Wills Expedition: Presidents inaugural address". ''Journal of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science''. 1907 (Adelaide, 1907.), 43p.
*Howitt, Alfred William, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, & Siebert Otto, 1904. ''Legends of the Dieri and kindred tribes of Central Australia''. London: Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
External links
*
State Library of Victoria biography
Burke and Wills online exhibition at the State Library of Victoria.
Burke & Wills Web
A comprehensive website containing many of the historical documents relating to the Burke & Wills Expedition.
The Burke & Wills Historical Society
The Burke & Wills Historical Society.
''Kamilaroi and Kurnai''
book details,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howitt, Alfred William
Australian anthropologists
19th-century Australian botanists
Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
Australian explorers
Australian public servants
1830 births
1908 deaths
People from Nottingham
English emigrants to colonial Australia