Tommy Windich ( – ) was an

Indigenous Australian 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 ...

member of a number of exploring expeditions in

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 the 1860s and 1870s. Tommy Windich (or Windiitj) was born around 1840 near Mount Stirling in Western Australia. Little is known of his youth, but his skills in tracking and knowledge of a number of Aboriginal languages suggest a traditional upbringing, whereas his skills in horseriding and

marksmanship A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting. In modern military usage this typically refers to the use of projectile weapons such as an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle (or a sniper rifle) to shoot ...

indicate extensive contact with colonial culture. By the early 1860s, Windich was working as a "native assistant" in the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

force at

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, where his main tasks were to assist in the

tracking Tracking may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Tracking, in computer graphics, in match moving (insertion of graphics into footage) * Tracking, composing music with music tracker software * Eye tracking, measuring the position of ...

of escaped

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...

s, Aborigines who were wanted by the authorities, and escaped horses. In 1863, he joined the first aboriginal assistant policeman Cowits to accompany Henry Maxwell Lefroy on his expedition east of York to the interior. In 1865 he tracked and helped to recapture a prison escapee named Joseph Johns, who would later become the notorious bushranger

Moondyne Joe Joseph Bolitho Johns ( February 1826 – 13 August 1900), better known as Moondyne Joe, was an English convicts in Australia, convict and Western Australia's best-known bushranger. Born into poor and relatively difficult circumstances, he became ...

. Early in 1866 he helped to capture three Aborigines who had murdered a pastoralist, one of whom fought against his arrest, spearing Windich in the arm. This expedition appears to have made Windich's name as a superb tracker and a reliable and useful member of any travelling party, for he was afterwards in constant demand. Windich and Cowits joined Constable Edwards in the police expedition east in May 1866 which discovered petroleum. Kevin Moran: Sand and Stone, The social history of Western Australia as recorded by the Pioneer Police of the Eastern Frontiers, Optima Press, 2000. Sometime in 1866 Windich was stationed to Beverley, where he continued his usual work as a native assistant, but was also sent on a number of exploring expeditions. Windich's next exploratory expedition (also with Cowits) was the third expedition of the explorer Charles Hunt. The objective was to explore the area east of the Hampton Plains but an unseasonal drought caused a great shortage of water and feed for the horses, and they were forced to abandon their plans and return to York. In 1869, Windich was a member of John Forrest's first expedition, which searched without success for clues to the fate of the long-lost explorer Ludwig Leichhardt in the desert west of the site of the present-day town of Leonora. The following year, he was a member of Forrest's second expedition, which surveyed

Edward John Eyre Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand's New Munster province, and Governor of Jamaica. Early life Eyre was born in ...

's route between the colonies of Western Australia and

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 ...

along the coast of the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight (geography), bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern Coast, coastline of mainland Australia. There are two definitions for its extent—one by the Internation ...

. In 1871, Windich was part of another attempt to explore the land beyond the Hampton Plains, this time under the guidance of Alexander Forrest. This expedition discovered about of pastoral land, half of which was of fine quality, but also found water to be extremely scarce. In 1874, Windich was a member of John Forrest's third and most ambitious expedition. This expedition explored the watershed of the Murchison River, discovering much new pastoral land, then headed east through the uncharted centre of Western Australia, to the overland telegraph line from Darwin to

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 ...

. Early in 1876, Windich was working as a guide with the party constructing the overland

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

line from

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to Adelaide, when he caught a chill that became a serious illness. On about 20 February, he died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. He was buried at Dempster Head near Esperance. John Forrest said at the time :"his name is almost a household word in this colony.... I feel that I have lost an old and well tried companion and friend."

Cultural references

In September 1988, a cultivar of

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

, bred by the Western Australian Department of Agriculture for performance in medium to high rainfall areas, was released under the name "''Hordeum vulgare'' (Barley) c.v. Windich". Commonly referred to simply as "Windich", the cultivar is named for Tommy Windich, continuing a tradition of naming Western Australian grain cultivars after historic people of Western Australia.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Windich, Tommy 1840s births 1876 deaths Australian explorers Explorers of Australia Explorers of Western Australia Indigenous Australians from Western Australia People from the Wheatbelt (Western Australia) Deaths from pneumonia in Western Australia

Cultural references

See also

Notes

References