The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ [ ¶ Mr. Donald M'Intyre, in letters to Mr. Donald Campbell and to Dr. Mueller, acquaints us that he has called Mr. W. F. Barnett, ¶ William Frederick Barnett. ¶ a son of the late Dr. Barnett, of S...

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66.12.00d

Preferred Citation:

Donald McIntyre to Ferdinand von Mueller, 1866-12 [66.12.00d]. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id//letters/1860-9/1866/66-12-00d-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Exploration in Northern Australia', Herald (Melbourne), 22 February 1867, p. 3; it was also published in several other newspapers. The article is a report of actions taken during the Ladies' Leichhardt Search Expedition following the death of the leader of the expedition, Duncan McIntyre, and his deputy William Sloman who was appointed to succeed him. It begins with a quotation from a letter of William Landsborough (addressee not stated, but likely to be M), from the Burke settlement, Gulf of Carpentaria (Qld), and adds details of the health and plans of the party that may be drawn from Landsborough's letter. The extract given here is followed by text that may be summarizing one or both of Donald McIntyre's letters mentioned in the extract. The article concludes with a summary of a letter written by Donald McIntyre from Dalgannally station (Qld) on 22 December 1866, the addressee of which is not given. It is unclear whether that information is from one of the two previously cited letters, or is from an additional letter written by McIntyre. In it, McIntyre expresses sorrow at the death of William Sloman, and is quoted as saying that 'Mr Barnett will start from his camp in a few days, fully equipped for the contract time', and that 'a female camel died a few days ago from the effects of a snake bite'.

[Mr. Donald M'Intyre, in letters to Mr. Donald Campbell and to Dr. Mueller, acquaints us that he has called Mr. W. F. Barnett,

William Frederick Barnett.

a son of the late Dr. Barnett, of Sandhurst,

Now Bendigo, Vic.

and a travelling companion of his late brother to the command of the expedition, an appointment which the Ladies’ Committee and Mr Campbell have confirmed.]

The original leader of the expedition was Duncan McIntyre, who died on 4 June 1866 (see J Sharkey to M, 11 June 1866). He was succeeded by William Sloman (see Agreement, 27 August 1866), who however died on 14 December (see J. MacDonald to M, 15 December 1866 (in this edition as 66-12-15b)). Exercising his responsibilities under the Agreement, Donald McIntyre appointed Barnett as leader. For the activities of the expedition under Barnett, see D. Lewis (2013), pp. 114-5.

The article is followed by 'The Leichhardt search expedition'. which prints a letter from W. F. Barnett to the Ladies Committee dated 21 December 1866. Another version of the letter, printed in 'Leichhardt search expedition', Argus , 22 February 1867, p. 6, gives the address from which it was written as 'Camp, Julia Creek, Carpentaria'.