Just for starters!

This is my 5X-Great-grandfather Captain Charles Sturt who was a famous Australian Explorer:

I am very proud of him. He is my hero!! His full name is Charles Napier Sturt. He was born on 28th April, 1795 in India. He was the eldest of 8 sons and one of 13 children. He passed away on 16th June 1869, a few weeks before he was due to be knighted. The ship in which he travelled to Australia was called the "Mariner"

He was educated at Harrow.

The school records state:

"CHARLES STURT

 Entered Harrow School in January 1810  and left between 1811 and 1813.

 

 The son of Thomas Lenox Napier Sturt, H.E.I.C.S.

Joined 39^th Regiment 1813; retired as Captain 1833; served in the Peninsular War (present at Garris, the Gaves, Garin, Aire and Toulouse), in Canada under Sir G. Prevost in 1814, and in Ireland during the Whiteboy riots, 1819-26; was the first to unfurl the British Colours in Paris after Waterloo; subsequently proceeded with his regiment to Australia, where he became one of the pioneers of Australian exploration; received the thanks of the N.S.W. government for suppressing a mutiny of convicts at Norfolk Island 1830; Surveyor-General, Commissioner of Lands, Register-Gen., Col. Treas., and Col. Sec. of S. Australia, 1839-51; Fellow and Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society; nominated K.C.M.G. 1869.  Died 16 June 1869."

He wrote this book:

It is available on-line here! It is a .pdf file, so you will need to download Adobe Acrobat reader. It is Sturt's own account of his 1828 "Darling Expedition", and of his 1829/30 "Murray Expedition".

He has also written some more.

You can read accounts written about him here and here.

This is a statue of him in Victoria Square, Adelaide, Australia:

This is a monument erected in his honour, outside Innaminka Hostel, South Australia:

He has had a University named after him:

He discovered the Sturt Desert,

the Sturt Stony Desert  

and Sturt Creek.

There is a City of Charles Sturt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sturt Desert Rose  ,

the Sturt Desert Pea

and The Sturt poppy have been named after him.

The Sturt Desert Pea is called 'Clianthus Formosus' and is the emblem of South Australia. The Sturt Desert Rose is called 'Gossypium Sturtianum' and is the emblem of the Northern Territory.

There is a hotel which bears his name

This is his sextant:

He explored Central Australia

He discovered the Murray  and Darling Rivers.

He has had a lot of books written about him, including

There is some excellent information about the Sturt family name here.

He is buried here:.

I have AT LAST been able to visit his final resting place:

The inscriptions on the gravestones read:

"1. CHARLES STURT CAPTAIN 39TH DORSET REGIMENT. AUSTRALIAN EXPLORER. NOMINATED KCMG. 2ND SON OF THOMAS LENNOX NAPIER STURT. BORN 28 APRIL 1795 DIED 16 JUNE 1869. ALSO HIS WIFE DAME CHARLOTTE CHRISTIANA STURT ELDEST DAUGHTER OF COLONEL WILLIAM SHEPPEY GREENE BORN 10 AUGUST 1801 DIED 5 JUNE 1887. “ YEA THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH I WILL FEAR NO EVIL FOR THOU ART WITH ME“  AND OF THEIR DAUGHTER CHARLOTTE EYRE STURT BORN 19 JANUARY 1843 DIED 11 DECEMBER 1928.

2. I SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MAJOR GENERAL CHARLES SHEPPEY STURT INDIAN ARMY 2ND AND LAST SURVIVING SON OF CAPTAIN CHARLES STURT 39TH REGIMENT. BORN AT VARROVILLE NEW SOUTH WALES 21.9.1833. DIED MUDDIFORD HOUSE NR. BARNSTAPLE 22 DECEMBER 1910.

3. EVE GOLDING/COLLING  1852."

There is a brief biography on him here.

This is "The Grange", his historic home in Adelaide as well as an actual extract from his journal.

Hits on THIS page.