William Wills' Field Books
Wills' journals of the expedition were retrieved by Alfred Howitt - leader of the Relief expedition - and returned to Melbourne. They cover the journey from Cooper's Creek to Carpentaria and back, as well as the attempt to travel towards Adelaide after finding the depot deserted.
Transcriptions of these journals were promptly made by members of the Royal Society's Exploration Committee. Incredibly, the originals of the first two journals were loaned to the office of Melbourne's Argus newspaper for publication. Not surprisingly, they were never seen again. Today our only sources for these texts are the transcriptions, held by the State Library of Victoria, and the published version produced by the Argus.
Wills' third journal, which records the attempt to travel south-west along the creek towards Adelaide, was transcribed by William Henry Archer. He rewarded himself for his labours by pocketing the original, which was not seen again until 1909 when his daughter sold it to the National Library of Australia.
Wills' field books are held in the Australian Manuscripts Collection, MS 13071.
Field Book, No. 1
Cooper's Creek to Carpentaria
16 December to 21 December 1860
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Field Book, No. 2
Camp 72 to Camp 78
22 December to 26 December 1860
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Field Book, No. 3
Camp 78 to Camp 85
Sunday 30 December 1860
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Field Book, No. 4
Camp 85 to Camp 90
5 January to 11 January 1860
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Field Book, No. 5
Camp 92 to Camp 95
12 January to 13 January 1861
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Field Book, No. 6
Station 98 to Station 105
19 January 1861
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Field Book, No. 7
Camp 105 to Camp 112
27 January to 30 January 1861
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Field Book, No. 8
Camp 112 to Camp 119
22 December to 26 December 1860
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Field Book, No. 9
Returning from Carpentaria to Cooper's Creek
Sunday February 1861
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Glossary>
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