THE HUME & HOVELL EXPEDITION
In November 2024 the 200th anniversary of the Hume & Hovell Expedition will be commemorated.
On October 3, 1824, Hamilton Hume and William Hovell and six fellow expeditioners set off from Hume’s property at Appin, south of Campbelltown. The aim of the expedition was to find new grazing land south-west of Sydney and to find an overland route to Bass Strait and the south coast of what was then all part of the colony of New South Wales.
Land south of Appin as far as the Yass plains had already been explored by Europeans including by Hamilton Hume himself, with his younger brother John. Once Lake George was reached, no European had ventured any further. On October 17 they set off from Lake George.
The land that later became the site of Albury was reached on November 16. The men of the expedition party were the first Europeans to sight the river that they named the Hume. After first heading downstream looking for a suitable crossing place, they returned and headed upstream, finding a place to cross beyond the confluence of the Hume and Mitta Rivers. They crossed the Hume on November 20 in a makeshift raft at a spot that is now under the waters of Lake Hume.
In January 1830, Charles Sturt’s party, travelling down the Murrumbidgee River, arrived at a much larger river. Sturt named the river the Murray, not realising that he had met the same river that the Hume and Hovell expedition had crossed further upstream and named the Hume.
From the Hume River, the Hume & Hovell expedition trekked south, keeping west of the Great Dividing Range and reached Port Phillip on December 16, 1824.
After thousands of years of indigenous habitation and care for the region that Albury is now part of, the region was soon to be dominated by Europeans and changed forever.
Useful Websites
Explorers Bike Ride 2024
State Library of NSW – Hume and Hovell
Wikipedia – Hume and Hovell Expedition
Points of Interest Australia – Hume & Hovell Expedition to Port Phillip
Hume and Hovell Track
Project Gutenberg Australia – Journey of Discovery to Port Phillip *
Two Centuries On: Following the Path of Hume & Hovell
Australian Dictionary of Biography – Hamilton Hume
Australian Dictionary of Biography – William Hovell
Termination Point of Hume & Hovell Expedition
* Available as a pdf download Journey of Discovery to Port Phillip 1824-1825
Also useful is an evaluation by historian Martin Williams of the accuracy of Hume & Hovell route maps. Click on the link to read his article: Hamilton Hume Sketch Maps
Hume & Hovell Expedition Timeline
Below is a timetable of the expedition as it headed towards the Hume (Murray) River:
October 02, 1824 – the expedition party leaves from Hamilton Hume’s property at Appin, south-west of Sydney.
October 17 – the party leaves from Gunning into territory previously unexplored by Europeans.
November 13/14 – they camp beneath Table Top mountain.
November 16 – they arrive at the river they call Hume River at the bottom of what is now Hume Street Albury.
November 16/17 – they explore downstream looking for a crossing site without success.
November 18 – return to near the Hovell Tree, tree is marked by Hovell.
November 20 – a suitable crossing site, now under Lake Hume, is found upstream and above where the Mitta River meets the Hume (later re-named Murray) River.
Timetable for bicentennial commemoration 2024:
November 12 to December 13 – display of memorabilia and images relating to the expedition of 1824. Foyer, AlburyCity Administration Building.
November 13, 7.30 pm – Q&A type panel of three in the Banksia Room at the Commercial Club Albury, Dr Bruce Pennay, Peter Harper and Kat Kitch, moderator Greg Aplin. All welcome.
November 14 – Dr Bruce Pennay previewing work on a digital educational resource looking at the impact of European colonisation. At Albury LibraryMuseum, 4.30pm to 5.30pm.
November 14 – Peter Harper and Keith Wiencke present their stories and experiences of the Explorers’ Bike Ride 2024. At Retro Café, 11am to 12 noon.
November 16 – unveiling of new information panels and upgrade around Hovell Tree surrounds, a community event.
November 17 – North Albury Rotary Club organised charity walk to top of Table Top. Departs 9.00am.
A timeline of dates and events in Albury and district relating to the Hume and Hovell Expedition can be accessed by clicking on Hume and Hovell Timeline_Albury
Border Mail articles
The Border Mail has started to publish a series of articles submitted by A&DHS relating to the Hume & Hovell Expedition. The articles will continue to be published every four weeks up to the November bicentenary. The first seven articles can be accessed below:
Hamilton Hume
William Hovell
Other Expedition Members
Getting Started
The Murray River Crossing
The Murray River Crossing – Dr Andrews 1919
Remembering Hume & Hovell
Marking the Route
Southern Termination of Expedition
Hume & Hovell and the pathfinders
Hamilton Hume 
and William Hovell explored country that was neither unknown nor uninhabited. Hamilton Hume’s friendship with, and assistance from, local Aboriginal groups throughout the journey enabled the opening up of some of the most pristine land in New South Wales and Victoria (note that Victoria was not a separate and independent colony until 1851).
Fellow explorer Charles Sturt, in his report to the Colonial Secretary after his 1828/29 expedition in which he was supported by Hamilton Hume, said that he had “received the most ready and valuable assistance from Mr Hume on all occasions and that his intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the natives, enabled him to enter into discourse with them, and chiefly contributed to the peaceable manner in which the party journeyed.”
Listen to the ABC audio file at Hume & Hovell – pathfinders
Accounts of the Journey
‘Accounts of the Journey’ includes recollections of three members of the expedition: Hamilton Hume, William Hovell, and Henry Angel
Listen to the 11 minute Accounts of the Journey
“Stuff You Missed in History Class”
It’s interesting to listen to the version of the Hume & Hovell Expedition from two American podcasters, Holly Frey and Tracy V Wilson. They give us a different perspective in an interesting and fun recording.
Listen to the 37 minute recording by clicking on the file below:
Commemorating the centenary in Albury, 1924
How did Albury commemorate the centenary of the Hume and Hovell Expedition in November 1924? There was a week long program of events including church services, a brass band contest, street parades and more.
The 1924 medal (left) was found in Lavington. The inscription reads “Hume & Hovell Centenary Race Meeting. 20th & 22nd Nov 1924.” At the top is the Hovell tree, in the middle an indigenous man facing Albury’s civic buildings. the river in between.
Download a copy of the Hume and Hovell Souvenir Programme 1924.
To mark the centenary in 1924, Jack Byrne wrote a commemorative song to the music of Will Caspers. Both Jack and Will were Albury men. John ‘Joker’ Byrne had been an altar boy at St Patrick’s Church Albury for Father Patrick Hartigan (famous poet ‘John O’Brien’ author of the ‘Around the Boree Log’ collection). He became a well-known reciter of O’Brien’s poetry throughout NSW. Will Caspers was member of a talented Albury musical family – he was later conductor for many years of St Mary’s Cathedral choir in Sydney.
‘By the Hovell Tree’ was produced as a ‘Souvenir Song of the Centenary celebrations.’
Click on the link to download the words: By the Hovell Tree
Hamilton Hume remembered in Yass
Australian Community Media has produced a two minute video featuring ‘Tim the Yowie Man,’ a Canberra Times columnist. Tim points out the various ways in which Yass has remembered Hamilton Hume: Cooma Cottage where he lived from 1839, the start of the Hume and Hovell Walking Track, the Hume Bridge over the river, a motel and a fine exhibition of memorabilia at the Yass & District Historical Society’s museum which includes the statue of Hume. Hamilton Hume’s final resting place is in the Yass cemetery, marked by an impressive memorial to the explorer.
Also highlighted is the memorial at Gunning where the expedition party set off from on October 17, 1824 into territory previously unexplored by white men.
Click on the link: Remembering Hume in Yass