The earliest documented motorists to drive from Queensland to Darwin was 101 years ago from the Darling Downs. I’m going to the Northern Territory myself this week to raise money for charity. I told a version of this story live on Darling Downs radio 4AK.
In 1925, four amazing men from Warwick decided to go on an historic adventure which until today has been pretty much forgotten. (Pictured above)
Leader of the group was Mr Alfred Hardaker. He’d recently lost his wife and retired as manager of the Warwick branch of the National Bank of Australasia. He’d also run branches in Ipswich and Rockhampton and was considered the best manager in the state.
Then there was the fascinating American Douglas Tilghman who was probably one of the two financiers of the adventure. He was manager of the Warwick branch of the Primary Producers Bank of Australia. He would go on to be town clerk in Berry and Yass in New South Wales, but interestingly he was a member of one of the most prominent families in Maryland in the U.S. His ancestors included chairman of Maryland’s provisional government during the American Revolution, confidential secretary to General Washington, chief judge of the United States circuit court, and an uncle was Maryland’s secretary of state.
The other financier was the Warwick dentist Hugh Marsh who later became an oil and gold miner. He had served in Gallipoli during the First World War and been awarded the military cross for bravery, and the waiting room at his dental surgery was filled with a huge array of war trophies. Patients would arrive hours early to see a collection of British, French and German firearms, a gas mask, tin hat, explosive shells, collection of European coins and paper money, photos and maps, a German sandbag made entirely of woven paper, and on the walls was a magnificent series of oil paintings of Egyptian scenery.
The fourth member of the party was the owner of the Warwick Motor Company Mr William Johnstone who sourced the vehicle for the trip. Johnstone served in both world wars including at Gallipoli in the first and survived unscathed, other than when returning on leave during the second, he was clubbed by his wife and her lover as he entered his home.
On the 12th of May 1925, the four men set out from Warwick in a new American car, a Willys Knight imported from Ohio. They went via Goondiwindi, St George, Augathella, Longreach, Winton, Cloncurry, Camooweal, across the border to Brunett Downs, Newcastle Waters, Katherine, and onto Darwin.
For some of the trackless country the grass was higher than the bonnet of the car. One day they covered no more than two-and-a-half miles, and another time, because of the roughness of the ground, they had to drive twenty-five miles in first gear. The car, the Willys Knight, remarkably remained undamaged other than just a bent mudguard. They managed the 2,500 miles without rushing, arriving in Darwin on the evening of Friday the 5th of June after twenty-one days’ actual travelling time.
For the return journey, they shipped the car and themselves back to Brisbane aboard the steamer Montoro which was leaving Darwin the very next day after they arrived.
Warwick’s Hardaker journey was not as well documented compared to its contemporaries, but it really does matter historically.
The first car ever driven into Darwin arrived in 1908 which was the first south–north crossing of Australia by car. Exploration by car became popular in the 1920s when the famous Westwood–Davies “Bubsie” car reached Darwin in August 1925, which was after Hardaker, and they left from Perth. The Captain Whyte transcontinental motor party reached Darwin in late June 1925 also after Hardaker, plus they started in Adelaide, not Queensland.
This means Warwick’s Hardacre party were pioneers of the Queensland–Darwin overland route, pre‑dating the more famous expeditions, making them probably the first party ever to drive into Darwin from any eastern state.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON 4AK.
This week I’m going to the Northern Territory where I’ll be exploring the Mary River which has the highest concentration of saltwater crocodiles in the world. And I’ll be going to the Tiwi Islands football grand final to showcase how sport can be celebrated without alcohol, and I’m raising money for the charity Drug ARM. Please make a tax-deductible donation by following this link.
Photo credits:
The car and crew before starting out from Warwick – Daily Mail, Brisbane, 2nd August 1925, page 22.
The best available road between Adelaide River and Darwin, rattling over the railway sleepers – Daily Mail, Brisbane, 2nd August 1925, page 22.
Burns Philp steamer Montoro, 1911 – Port Adelaide Historical Society, repaired with Copilot.
“Bubsie” crossing the Norther Territory’s Katherine River – Australian Geographic, Adventist College collection.
History Out There 