Born on this day
Wednesday, September 13, 1916. : Roald Dahl, children’s writer and author of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, is born.
Roald Dahl was born on 13 September 1916, in Llandaff, Wales. Dahl is known for his unique style of writing for children, which incorporates fantasy into the real world. He is considered one of the world’s greatest and most enduring storytellers, and much of his writing was influenced by specific childhood experiences. His fondness for a particular candy shop formed the basis for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. Being sent to boarding schools was also an unpleasant experience, which probably influenced the writing of “Matilda”. The experience of being caned by his headmaster is reflected in “Matilda” and “Danny, the Champion of the World”. The loss of his father when he was young can be seen in “James and the Giant Peach”.
13 September has become known as Roald Dahl Day, when children and adults everywhere are encouraged to join in activities and events dedicated to celebrating the characters, worlds and stories of Dahl. Dahl died of leukaemia on 23 November 1990.
Australian Explorers
Friday, September 13, 1861. : Howitt’s expedition to rescue missing explorers Burke and Wills arrives at the ‘Dig’ Tree.
Burke and Wills, with a huge party of men and supplies, departed Melbourne in August 1860 to cross Australia to the north coast and back. Burke, being impatient and anxious to complete the crossing as quickly as possible, split the expedition at Menindee. He moved on ahead to establish a depot at Cooper Creek. He left William Wright in command of the Menindee depot.
Splitting his party yet again at Cooper Creek, Burke chose to make a dash to the Gulf in the heat of Summer. He took with him Wills and two others, ex-seaman Charles Gray and former soldier John King. He left stockman William Brahe in charge with instructions that, should the small party not return in three months, Brahe was to return to Menindee. The trek to the Gulf and back took over four months, and during that time Gray died. A full day was spent in burying his body. When Burke returned to Cooper Creek, he discovered lettering freshly blazed on the coolabah tree at the depot, giving instructions to dig for the supplies Brahe had left. Thus, the name ‘Dig’ Tree was spawned.
When Burke left the Dig tree to try to reach the police station at Mt Hopeless, 240km to the southwest, he failed to leave further messages emblazoned on the Dig tree. Thus, when Brahe and Wright returned to check the depot, they found no evidence of Burke’s return. Believing Burke and Wills were lost, a rescue expedition was organised in Melbourne. Headed up by Alfred Howitt, the rescue party reached the Dig tree on 13 September 1861. Finding no sign of Burke and Wills, the men moved downstream. It was there that they found King, the only survivor, who was able to tell how Burke and Wills had died close by six weeks earlier.
Australian History
Monday, September 13, 1824. : The first convict colony in what is now Queensland is founded at Redcliffe.
The city of Redcliffe is so named for its red cliff faces. The area was first recommended by Captain John Oxley as the site for a new convict settlement. However, Oxley cannot be truly credited with being the first white man to set foot in the area. In 1823, he set out to explore the Moreton Bay area, and it was there that he came across the stranded ticket-of-leave timber-cutter, Thomas Pamphlett, who together with his companion Finnegan had been living with the aborigines for seven months, after being shipwrecked off Moreton Island.
Oxley and Settlement Commandant Lieutenant Miller, together with a crew and 29 convicts, sailed on the ‘Amity’ from Sydney and arrived at Redcliffe on 13 September 1824 to found the new colony. The settlement was established at Humpybong, but abandoned less than a year later when the main settlement was moved 30km away, to the Brisbane River. The name “Humpybong” was given by the local aborigines to describe the “dead huts” left behind, “humpy” being huts, and “bong” meaning “dead”, or “lifeless”. The name is still used today.
Australian History
Monday, September 13, 1982. : A second inquest begins into the disappearance of baby Azaria Chamberlain at Ayers Rock in 1980.
Uluru, formerly Ayers Rock, is a huge monolith in central Australia. It has long been a popular tourist destination, but gained a new notoriety on the night of 17 August 1980, when two-month-old Azaria Chamberlain went missing from the nearby camping ground. When baby Azaria disappeared, her mother Lindy claimed that a dingo had stolen her baby. No trace of the child was ever found, although her bloodstained clothes were found a week later by another tourist. At the first inquest into her death, commencing in February 1981, it was found that the likely cause of Azaria’s disappearance was a dingo attack.
Police and prosecutors, unhappy with this judgement, moved for a second inquest which began on 13 September 1981. This time, the new finding was made that Azaria had been killed with a pair of scissors and held by a small adult hand until she stopped bleeding. Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murder on 29 October 1982, and her husband Michael was found guilty of being an accessory.
Lindy Chamberlain’s acquittal came several years later when a British tourist fell to his death from the Rock. When his body was finally located 8 days later amid an area full of dingo lairs, Azaria Chamberlain’s missing jacket was also found. New evidence was presented showing that the methods of testing previous evidence had been unreliable, and no conviction could be made on those grounds. Both Chamberlains were officially pardoned, Lindy was released, and eventually awarded AU$1.3 million in compensation for wrongful imprisonment.