By: Nic Abelian
James Cook, John McDouall Stuart, and Burke and Wills are synonymous with Australian exploration. William Wilkinson deserves to stand among them, displaying all the qualities of an Indiana Jones-style adventurer, complete with hat, horse and saddle, but minus the archaeological pursuits.
Australia’s Forgotten Explorer is a remarkable account of courage, endurance, and service in the Australian outback. Originally written in 1947 by pioneering outback priest Percy Smith MBE, under the title The Strenuous Saint, the book chronicles the extraordinary journey of William Wilkinson, an Anglican priest who travelled more than 12,000 kilometres on horseback through some of Australia’s most remote and unforgiving regions between 1913 and 1915.
Wilkinson’s expedition took him from north-west Queensland through the Gulf of Carpentaria, Katherine, Tennant Creek, the Tanami Desert, Charlotte Waters, and Hermannsburg, where he met missionary and anthropologist Carl Strehlow. His journey coincided with the outbreak of the First World War, which tragically took the life of his youngest son in Belgium, and lasted an astonishing 847 days.
Accompanied by sixteen horses and two Indigenous guides, Wilkinson visited many significant landmarks, including Chambers Pillar, Attack Creek, Central Mount Stuart, and the Devil’s Marbles, often following the route forged by explorer John McDouall Stuart along the telegraph line.
What makes Wilkinson’s story particularly inspiring is the man himself. Deaf and in his late fifties, he relied on a brass ear horn to communicate. Yet he carried out his mission with unwavering determination. More than a clergyman, he was a bushman, blacksmith, medic, messenger, and counsellor. He shoed his own horses, treated the sick and injured, delivered mail, helped people write letters and wills, and brought comfort and companionship to those living in isolation.
The book vividly explains the hardships Wilkinson endured. He faced extreme desert heat, frigid nights, disease, thirst, exhaustion, dangerous river crossings, crocodiles, quicksand, and the loss of horses to snakes and illness. He encountered cultural tensions, crime, and tragedy, yet continued his work with resilience and compassion. These challenges highlight the extraordinary commitment that drove him to continue despite the physical and emotional toll.
Wilkinson’s story captures a largely forgotten chapter of Australian history. Through Wilkinson’s experiences, readers gain insight into the realities of life in remote Australia during the early twentieth century and the vital role played by individuals who connected isolated communities.
The book is both an adventure narrative and a tribute to selfless service. This special reprinting, featuring a foreword by Percy Smith’s grandson, Mark Smith, reveals new details on Wilkinson’s early life, such as his seven children, and never before seen photographs, adding further layers to the story. Mark reflects on Wilkinson as a man, ‘who looked for no praise, sought no reward and received no recognition.’ This observation encapsulates the humility and dedication that define Wilkinson’s legacy.
In an exclusive interview, Mark told the New York Review he decided to publish this new book after the positive feedback to his speech for South Australia’s History Festival called, ‘Home via Hermannsburg: William Wilkinson’s 847 day. Top End. Red Centre Quest,’ for the Friends of the Lutheran Archives.
Naturally the gathering was interested in Wilkinson’s five-day visit to the Lutheran mission at Hermannsburg and meeting with Carl and Freida Strehlow at the Finke River Mission, as anti-German sentiment was peaking. Understandably, the Strehlows were anxious about the safety of their children, who went to live in Germany in 1910 for schooling, as war in Europe became ferocious.
“Shouting into Wilkinson’s brass ear horn, the potential for the Anglicans to take over Lutheran missions became a controversial discussion topic,” Mark said.
A history graduate from Adelaide University, filmmaker and writer, Mark studied his grandfather’s text based on original journals, photographs and papers obtained in the 1940s for what is a republished edition of The Strenuous Saint, to mark one hundred years since Percy Smith’s ordination as a priest in 1927 in Brisbane.
Mark said, “One thousand copies of Percy Smith’s book were sold to raise funds for St John Hostel in Alice Springs and St Francis House in Adelaide, which were both places set up by my grandfather to support Indigenous children to access education and find their way in life.” St John’s Hostel and St Francis House played a role in the early lives of Indigenous trailblazers such as Charles Perkins, John Moriarty and Gordon Briscoe who achieved university education and became leaders of the 1960s civil rights movement in Australia, which mirrored the efforts of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr such as the freedom rides to expose systemic racism.
The book includes photographs, thought lost for decades, taken by Wilkinson of anthropological value along with a comparative analysis of the shared legacy of Wilkinson, Percy Smith and champion sprinter and later priest, Ken Hampton OAM, who lived at the famous St Francis House and was an Alawa man from Roper River, in the Northern Territory. A place Wilkinson visited in 1914.
“Wilkinson has sadly been forgotten in the pages of history, but that would not have mattered to him. When he died in 1935 aged 81, he would have drawn comfort from the fact that his call to Central Australia had finally been answered by Percy Smith in 1933,” Mark said.
Overall, this is an engaging and inspiring read. It offers a fascinating blend of adventure, exploration, history, faith, and human perseverance. Readers interested in Australian history, outback adventures, or stories of remarkable individuals will find William Wilkinson’s journey both compelling and unforgettable. With help from Sean Connery, Wilkinson may just have been able to find the Holy Grail.
The book Australia’s Forgotten Explorer: William Wilkinson can be purchased from the Live Heart Press at: www.liveheart.com.au
