Kalgoorlie Miner 10th Jul 1996
When 69-year-old Perth man Dr William Peasley led his party of men and camels down the streets of Coolgardie, he was fulfilling a promise he made more than a decade ago to the nephew of explorer David Carnegie.
Dr William Peasley (on right) and team member Christopher Steele fasten supplies to one of the nine camels which will make the trek with them from Coolgardie to Halls Creek and back.
In 1995, Dr Peasley visited the Carnegie home, Kinnaird Castle in Scotland and promised Carnegie’s now deceased nephew that he would retrace the explorer’s journey from Coolgardie to Halls Creek and back, exactly a century after the original trek. On July 9th 1896, a 25-year-old David Carnegie set off on a journey through some of the harshest country on the continent with the aim of finding gold or water supplies for a possible stock route. Thousands of kilometres and more than a year later, he returned having found little of either but was able to supply vital information about the region, which has been largely unexplored by white men.
Dr Peasley – whose team of five men and nine camels is the same as the explorers, with the exception of a dog which accompanied Carnegie – said “Carnegie’s expedition was equal in importance to that of Burke and Wills, but the young explorer received neither payment nor recognition.
His interest in Carnegie prompted him to write a book about the explorer’s life, In the Hands of Providence, published last year (1995). Yesterday, Dr Peasley described his feelings as chaotic as team members rushed around packing, strapping and roping supplies that will be needed for the eight to ten-week journey. His team includes a teacher, a bus driver, a historian and most importantly, an experienced camel handler, David Stewart. Mr Stewart, who is also a fisherman, is the only member of the team with extensive camel riding and handling experience. He said.
“I spend six months of the year on ships of the sea and the other six months on ships of the desert”
Mr. Stewart said he was looking forward to getting out into the desert and getting the camels settled in. “I wonder what the camels would have to say about all of this. I wish they could talk,” he said. As the team prepared to leave, Dr. Peasley echoed the words of the explorer he admired.
‘I go out with the full intention of doing my best, content to leave the rest in the hands of providence’.
‘Australian Story’ team members, Producer Helen Graswill (left), camera operator Marcus Alborn, reporter Michelle White (right) and sound recordist Justine Bessell in Coolgardie.
When Dr William Peasley set out on his expedition from Coolgardie this week, retracing the steps of explorer David Carnegie, a full documentary film crew followed in his wake. Helen Grasswill, producer of the ABC television documentary ‘Australian Story’ and her team will travel with the expedition for up to four weeks, by four-wheel drive, not camel, to get an insight into what is motivating the team and its 69-year-old leader to take on such an arduous journey. Ms Grasswill said she was fascinated by Dr Peasley’s drive to undertake a 2-month trek from Coolgardie to Halls Creek and return on the back of the camel.
“I look at it as a magnificent obsession on the part of Dr Peasley.”
I’m more interested in why he is doing this, even more than tracking the historical aspect of the expedition. Reporter Michelle White said she was looking forward to the nights around the campfire. “We can sit around the fire and say, “Okay, Bill, go for it. Tell us what you think Carnegie may have been thinking at this stage 100 years ago! ”
In the Hands of Providence – The Desert Journeys of David Carnegie by William Peasley. Available from Hesperian Press or the Eastern Goldfields Historical Soc
NOTE: Dr William Peasley passed away in Bunbury in 2020, aged 92 years.
Dr William Peasley -Obituary – Photo WA Newspapers
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