Captain Charles Sturt is one of Australia's great European explorers. Sturt came to Australia in 1827, obsessed with finding an inland sea in our vast land. The following year he set off on his exploration of the Macquarie River. During this expedition, he also discovered another river which he named the Darling River. On 7 January 1830, sailing in a whaleboat, Sturt and his team travelled down the Murrumbidgee River to its junction with another large river, which he named the Murray River. He continued down the Murray and reached Lake Alexandrina a month later. The journey was arduous and the party suffered many hardships along the way. Charles Sturt never id find that "inland sea" but his explorations of Australia's river systems are a vital part of its European history.
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On 2 June 1930, Australia issued its fourth commemorative stamp to celebrate the Centenary of Charles Sturt's Exploration of the Murray River. It was issued in two denominations: 1½d red and 3d blue. This commemorative was designed by RA Harrison and engraved by Frank Manley. In this design, the superb portrait of Sturt has been beautifully framed by a combination of lyrebird tails and the spearheads and shields typical of those used by Aborigines in the area he explored.
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Interestingly, Harrison's idea of incorporating the tail of a lyrebird into his design was taken one step further in 1932 for a new definitive. This time around the entire lyrebird was used in the design. This stunning stamp was designed and engraved by Frank Manley.
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Many interesting designs were considered. Below are a couple of examples of unadopted designs.
Until next time...
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