30th April 1827 – heading north from Segenhoe

On April 30, 1827, Cunningham took his departure from Segenhoe, heading north. 1 He had with him six men, eleven horses, and provisions for fourteen weeks. 2 3 4

Possibly, the names of four of the six men who travelled with Allan Cunningham to the Darling Downs are as follows:

  • John Lane per Eliza 1822
  • John Smith per Hebe 1820
  • James Swainborough per Surry 1823. 5
  1. Source: John Whitehead’s Tracking and Mapping the Explorers[↩]
  2. Source: Explorers of Australia And Their Life’s Work by Ernest Favenc – Full text located at Project Gutenberg[↩]
  3. Source: A Late Tour of A Cunningham Esq page 81 (an extract from Henry Stuart Russell’s The Genesis of Queensland) [↩]
  4. Find out more about the John Whitehead and his books[↩]
  5. Source: NSW State Archives State Records NSW: Colonial Secretary; NSR 962, Copies of Letters sent re Convicts, 6/10/1826 – 14/11/1827; [4/3665 p.256], Fiche 1041; 6th March 1827 Reel 1041 4/3665 NSW State Records. Transcript of document: Letter from Alex McLeay Colonial Secretary to F Hely Principle Superintendent of Convicts requesting shoes and blankets for convicts John Smith (Hebe 1820), James Swanborough (Surry 1823) and Jone Lane (Eliza 1822) who will accompany Allan Cunningham on scientific exploratory journey, March 1827[↩]