41-723: The Jamaica Committee was a group set up in Great Britain in 1865, which called for Edward Eyre , Governor of Jamaica , to be tried for his excesses in suppressing the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865. More radical members of the Committee wanted him tried for the murder of British subjects (Jamaica was at that time a Crown Colony ), under the rule of law. The Committee included English liberals, such as John Bright , John Stuart Mill , Charles Darwin , Thomas Henry Huxley , Thomas Hughes , Herbert Spencer and A. V. Dicey ,
82-520: A 2016 case in the Supreme Court of South Australia , the lake was noted as an sacred site and ownership was contested by three claimant groups: the Kokatha, Adnyamathanha/Kuyani and Barngarla peoples. The court ruled that none of the groups would be awarded native title to the area, as although all three groups had 'significant and credible spiritual connection to parts of Lake Torrens' it
123-520: A flock owner when he bought 400 lambs a month before his 18th birthday. In December 1837, Eyre started droving 1,000 sheep and 600 cattle overland from Monaro, New South Wales , to Adelaide , South Australia . Eyre, with his livestock and eight stockmen , arrived in Adelaide in July 1838. In Adelaide, Eyre sold the livestock for a large profit. With the money from the sale, Eyre set out to explore
164-789: A member of the Royal Geographical Society with whom Eyre had explored in New South Wales . His supporters included John Ruskin , Charles Kingsley , Charles Dickens , Lord Cardigan , Alfred Tennyson and John Tyndall . Cases against Lieutenant Brand and Brigadier Alexander Nelson were presented to the Central Criminal Court but the grand jury declined to certify either case. Eyre resided in Market Drayton in Shropshire , which
205-404: A rebellion, and occasioned the death of 18 militia or officials. Fearful of an island-wide uprising, Eyre brutally suppressed the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865. Up to 439 black peasants were killed in the reprisals, some 600 flogged, and about 1000 houses burnt down. General Luke Smythe O'Connor was directly responsible for those who inflicted excessive punishment. Erroneously convinced that he
246-670: Is Australia's second largest lake when filled with water and encompasses an area of 5,745 square kilometres (2,218 sq mi). Usually the Lake Torrens catchment is an endorheic basin , having no outflow of water to the ocean. Andamooka Island is the largest of several islands, lying along the western shore. It is a pastoral property, but an important area for birds such as the red-capped plover and cinnamon quail-thrush , and other islands host banded stilts and others. Murdie Island lies just south of Andamooka, its name of either Barngarla or Kuyani origin and identified in
287-714: Is in Victoria Square in Adelaide as well as Rumbalara Reserve in Springfield NSW on the Mouat Walk. In 1970, an Australia Post (then Postmaster-General's Department ) postage stamp bore his portrait. South Australia's Lake Eyre , Eyre Peninsula , Eyre Creek , Eyre Highway (the main highway from South Australia to Western Australia), Edward John Eyre High School , the Eyre Hotel in Whyalla , and
328-769: The Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 , "to damage, disturb or interfere with any Aboriginal sites, objects or remains". Mitigation strategies to protect the environment include purpose-built mats which would be used on the lake's surface to "protect the salt crust" from vehicles travelling over it, and the company intends to consult regularly with Aboriginal representatives. However Kuyani woman Regina McKenzie expressed concerns that her people were not consulted and no cultural assessments were made. The work, scheduled to begin in 2021, would "target iron oxide copper-gold ( IOCG ) copper mineralisation", similar to mines at Olympic Dam and Carrapateena mines . It has been called
369-680: The Inland Saline Lakes which has been listed in the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia since at least 1995. Lake Torrens has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area known as the Lake Torrens Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supported up to 100,000 breeding banded stilts during the major filling event of 1989. It may occasionally support over 1% of
410-597: The Symmetry called first at Deal , Kent on 11 May 1845, before anchoring at London on 12 May. He brought with him two aboriginal boys, one of whom was Warrulan . Once in England, he published a narrative of his travels. From 1848 to 1853, he served as Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand 's New Munster Province (Wellington and the South Island) under Sir George Grey . He married Adelaide Ormond in 1850. She
451-434: The aquifer below the lake. In September 2020, representatives of the local Kuyani and Kokatha people raised concerns about further drilling proposals. In January 2021, the state government under Steven Marshall granted permission to Kelaray to conduct drilling on the lake, over an area including Murdie Island, part of Andamooka Island, and part of Carrapateena Arm, after they had made an application under Section 23 of
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#1732783715644492-656: The colony of South Australia . However the Kuyani people had long called the lake Ngarndamukia, meaning "shower of rain". The lake filled in 1897 and again in April 1989. The 1989 filling resulted in the lake outflowing through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf , suggesting it likely did so in 1897 as well. It has a thin salt crust with red-brown clays beneath, which are soft and boggy . The area around
533-1036: The electoral district of Eyre in Western Australia, are named in his honour. So too are the villages of Eyreton and West Eyreton , and Eyrewell Forest , in Canterbury and the Eyre Mountains and Eyre Creek in Southland , New Zealand. Eyre Road, Linton, Palmerston North also is thought to be named after him as well as a few streets in Canterbury, New Zealand. Closer to the Monaro, New South Wales , Eyre Street, in Kingston, Australian Capital Territory , and Eyre Street in Bungendore , New South Wales, are named for him. Eyre's 1840 expedition
574-399: The 1850s. Its name, along with Carrapateena, reflect "the earliest known and identifiable cultural associations to Lake Torrens", according to a 2016 court judgement. Other geographic features include Carrapateena Inlet (also called Carrapateena Arm) and Trimmer Inlet. Approximately 35,000 years ago, the lake water was fresh to brackish , but has become increasingly saline since. In
615-497: The Kokatha people, who then held native title (see History, above ). In February 2018, the South Australian Environment, Resources and Development (ERD) Court granted authority to enter and undertake mining operations (exploration) within those parts of the western area of the lake defined in an application by Argonaut. Some drilling was done in 2019, but was paused pending a technical review relating to
656-661: The Murdie project in Argonaut's documentation. Drilling was set to start from 15 March 2021, despite recommendations against doing so being provided to Marshall (who is also Aboriginal Affairs minister) by the state-government-appointed Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation and the State Aboriginal Heritage Committee (SAHC ) and Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation (part of the Department of
697-834: The Premier and Cabinet ). 20 semi-trailer trucks delivered accommodation units and equipment to Murdie Island in preparation. In the same week, the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation launched legal action to put a stop to the drilling, on the grounds that it is "one of the most significant cultural sites in South Australia". In August 2022, the Chief Justice of South Australia , Chris Kourakis , overturned Marshall's decision, citing concerns that Kelaray's heritage plan and procedures would "substantially detract" from
738-676: The aboriginal people killed Baxter and left with most of the supplies. Eyre and Wylie survived only because they chanced to encounter at a bay near Esperance, Western Australia , the French whaling ship Mississippi , under the command of an Englishman, Captain Thomas Rossiter, for whom Eyre named the location Rossiter Bay . In 1845, he returned to England on board the Symmetry , leaving Port Adelaide on 16 December 1844, and sailing via Cape Town , under Captain Elder. Upon reaching England,
779-622: The case was eventually brought to the UK Court of Exchequer as Phillips v Eyre (1870) LR 6 QB 1, Exchequer Chamber. The case was influential in setting a precedent in English and Australian law over the conflict of laws, and choice of law to be applied in international torts cases. Eyre was exonerated in the Queen's Bench, a writ of error was submitted to the Exchequer, whose judgment affirmed
820-525: The committee included Charles Buxton , Edmond Beales , Leslie Stephen , James Fitzjames Stephen , Edward Frankland , Thomas Hill Green , Frederick Chesson , Goldwin Smith , Charles Lyell and Henry Fawcett . The Governor Eyre Defence and Aid Committee was set up by Thomas Carlyle in September 1866 to argue that Eyre had acted decisively to restore order. The committee secretary was Hamilton Hume ,
861-405: The defendants were guilty of legal murder, but extended considerable sympathy to them and intimated that they were probably morally justified. From then on, Mill was cool to him. Thomas Carlyle set up Governor Eyre Defence and Aid Committee in support of Eyre. His supporters included John Ruskin , Charles Kingsley , Charles Dickens , Alfred Tennyson and John Tyndall . The Jamaica Committee
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#1732783715644902-497: The east, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) north of Port Augusta and about 345 kilometres (214 mi) north of the Adelaide city centre . The lake is approximately 30 metres (98 ft) above sea level , with a maximum depth of 1 m. It is located within the boundaries of Lake Torrens National Park . Lake Torrens stretches approximately 250 kilometres (155 mi) in length and 30 kilometres (19 mi) in average width. It
943-682: The failure of the cases against the soldiers, whereupon the imagined prosecutors applied to the Queen's Bench for a writ of mandamus justified by the Criminal Jurisdiction Act 1802 and succeeded. The Queen's Bench grand jury, upon presentation of the case against Eyre, declined to find a true bill of indictment, and Eyre was freed of criminal pursuit. The case went next to the civil courts. Alexander Phillips charged Eyre with six counts of assault and false imprisonment, in addition to conversion of Phillips's "goods and chattels", and
984-457: The growing influence of the elected free people of colour Eyre distrusted, such as Gordon, Edward Jordon and Robert Osborn . Before dissolving itself, the legislature passed legislation to deal with the recent emergency, including an Act that sanctioned martial law and, all importantly for the litigation in Phillips v Eyre , an Act of Indemnity covering all acts done in good faith to suppress
1025-463: The interior of South Australia. In 1839, Eyre went on two separate expeditions : north to the Flinders Ranges and west to beyond Ceduna . The northernmost point of the first expedition was Mount Eyre ; it was named by Governor Gawler on 11 July 1839. On the second expedition, he spotted what was later named Lake Torrens . In 1840, Eyre went on a third expedition, reaching a lake that
1066-471: The lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf . Islands on the lake include Andamooka Island and Murdie Island , both near the western shore; Trimmer Inlet runs between Andamooka Island and the shore, and Carrapateena Arm is an arm extending westwards south of Murdie Island. Lake Torrens lies between the Arcoona Plateau to the west and the Flinders Ranges to
1107-520: The lake is sparsely vegetated with samphire , saltbush and bluebush . In April 2013, the full extent of Lake Torrens was gazetted by the Government of South Australia as a locality with the name Lake Torrens. The full extent of Lake Torrens has been protected as a national park under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 since 1991. Lake Torrens is part of an area known as
1148-488: The last of whom would eventually become known for his scholarship on the conflict of laws . Other prominent members of the committee included Charles Buxton , Frederic Harrison , Edmond Beales , Frederick Chesson , Leslie Stephen , Thomas Hill Green , Henry Fawcett , Goldwin Smith , Charles Lyell and Edward Frankland . The counsel to the Jamaica Committee was James Fitzjames Stephen , who held that
1189-514: The most to lose, regarded Eyre as the hero who had saved Jamaica from disaster. Eyre's influence on the white planters was so strong that he convinced the House of Assembly to pass constitutional reforms that brought the old form of government to an end and allowed Jamaica to become a Crown Colony , with an appointed, rather than an elected, legislature on the basis that stronger legislative control would ward off another act of rebellion. That move ended
1230-538: The one below, and an important precedent was thus set by Willes J . Eyre's legal expenses were covered by the British government in 1872, and in 1874 he was granted the pension of a retired colonial governor. He lived out the remainder of his life at Walreddon Manor in the parish of Whitchurch near Tavistock, Devon , where he died on 30 November 1901. He is buried in the Whitchurch churchyard. A statue of Eyre
1271-499: The passing of bills to provide punishment on the treadmill for certain offences, and flogging as the penalty for stealing food. George William Gordon , a mixed-race member of the Assembly of Jamaica, criticised Eyre's draconian measures, warning that "If we are to be governed by such a Governor much longer, the people will have to fly to arms and become self-governing." Baptist preacher and rebel leader Paul Bogle encouraged and led
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1312-563: The rebellion after the proclamation of martial law. Those events created great controversy in England and resulted in demands for Eyre to be arrested and tried for murdering Gordon. John Stuart Mill organised the Jamaica Committee , which demanded his prosecution and included some well-known English liberal intellectuals such as John Bright , Charles Darwin , Frederic Harrison , Thomas Hughes , Thomas Henry Huxley , Herbert Spencer and A. V. Dicey . Other notable members of
1353-486: The world population of red-capped plovers . Cinnamon quail-thrushes are also common in the IBA. In April 2017 Kelaray, a subsidiary of mining company Argonaut Resources , secured native title permission to do exploratory drilling for iron, copper and gold under the lake, intending to work with traditional owners to “preserve and protect” important sites. The area was drilled in 2007 to 2008 without obtaining permission of
1394-530: Was born in Whipsnade , Bedfordshire, shortly before his family moved to Hornsea , Yorkshire , where he was christened. His parents were Rev. Anthony William Eyre and Sarah (née Mapleton). After completing grammar school at Louth and Sedbergh , he moved to the colonial settlement of Sydney , Australia, rather than join the army or go to university. He gained experience in the new land by boarding with and forming friendships with prominent gentlemen and became
1435-587: Was dramatised in the 1962 Australian radio play Edward John Eyre by Colin Thiele . In 1971, the Australian composer Barry Conyngham wrote the opera Edward John Eyre using poems by Meredith Oakes and extracts from Eyre's Journals of Expeditions of Discovery . Lake Torrens Lake Torrens ( Kuyani : Ngarndamukia ) is a large ephemeral , normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia . After sufficiently extreme rainfall events,
1476-561: Was later named Lake Eyre , in his honour. Eyre, together with his aboriginal companion Wylie , was the first European to traverse the coastline of the Great Australian Bight and the Nullarbor Plain by land in 1840–1841, on an almost 3,200-kilometre (2,000 mi) trip to Albany, Western Australia . He had originally led the expedition with John Baxter and three aboriginal people. On 29 April 1841, two of
1517-403: Was not possible to 'prioritise one set of spiritual beliefs over the other'. In 2020, mine exploration licences covered part of the lake with prospecting for minerals underway The first European to see the lake was Edward Eyre in 1839, who spotted the salt bed from Mount Arden at the head of the Spencer Gulf . Eyre named the lake after Colonel Robert Torrens who was one of the founders of
1558-468: Was one of the leaders of the rebellion, Eyre authorised the execution of Gordon, who was tried for high treason by Lieutenant Herbert Brand in a court-martial. On 23 October, Gordon was hanged two days after his hastily-arranged trial, and Bogle followed him on to the gallows two days later, when he was hanged along with 14 others. The controlling European element of the Jamaican population, those who had
1599-635: Was outside the jurisdiction of the court, so the indictment failed on that count. Barrister James Fitzjames Stephen travelled to Market Drayton but failed to convince the Justices to endorse his case against Eyre. The Jamaica Committee next asked the Attorney-General to certify the criminal information against Eyre but was rebuffed. Eyre then moved to London so that he might bring matters to a head and offer himself up to justice. The magistrate at Bow Street Police Court declined to arrest him, due to
1640-403: Was the sister of the politician John Davies Ormond . From 1854 Eyre was Governor of several Caribbean island colonies, including Saint Vincent and Antigua . As Governor of Jamaica, Eyre mixed only with the white ruling class, to whose interests he was sympathetic. Instead of trying to relieve the unemployment problems or the unfair tax burdens on the poorer classes, he busied himself with
1681-547: Was ultimately unsuccessful in its goal of having Eyre prosecuted. This article related to the history of the United Kingdom or its predecessor states is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Edward Eyre Edward John Eyre (5 August 1815 – 30 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 . Eyre