Joseph Wild (also Wilde) (c.1759 or 1773–1847) was an early explorer of Australia. He was sentenced on 21 August 1793 in Chester for burglary, together with his brother, George. Both were transported to Australia as convicts in 1797, arriving in Port Jackson (Sydney) on the ship the Ganges on 2 June 1797 (George died in 1812).
He was under the charge of physician and pastoralist Charles Throsby and together they later became explorers in southern New South Wales. In particular they were the first Europeans to explore the area that became the Australian Capital Territory and Wild was credited with the discovery of Lake George. In 1810 he received a ticket of leave, and in January 1813 he was granted a conditional pardon. On 9 December 1815 Wild was appointed first Constable of the Five Islands District (now Illawarra). During the next few years he accompanied Throsby on many expeditions throughout New South Wales. In June 1823, he was part an exploration party—the others were Captain Mark Currie, Major John Ovens, and an unknown Aboriginal guides—who followed a route to the east of the steep slopes of the Murrumbidgee River's gorge and were the first colonists to reach the Monaro district..
In 1819 he was granted 100 acres (0.40 km2) in Sutton Forest for services for Throsby and in 1821 he was appointed constable of the County of Argyle. It is said that he and his wife Elizabeth had a large family. He died on 25 May 1847 when he was gored by a bull at Wingecarribee Swamp. He was the first person to be buried behind the church in the Bong Bong Cemetery, Moss Vale, New South Wales.
Wilde's Meadow in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales is named after him.
See also
- List of convicts transported to Australia
References
- Australian Dictionary of Biography 1788-1850 Vol.2 pp. 597–598
- "New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages"
- Plowman, Suzannah, A Thematic History 1823-1945 of the Cooma-Monaro Shire, September 2007, pp. 8–10
External links