The gold watch believed to have been used during Burke and Wills`s disastrous expedition into the Australian Outback.
Gold pocket watch "used by Burke and Wills"
Found in deceased estate of a watch collector
Up for auction on September 22
A WATCH thought to have been carried by Burke and Wills during their ill-fated 1860 expedition into the Australian Outback has been found.
The gold pocket watch inscribed "Wm. John Wills Explorer Melbourne 1860 R.O.H.B. Wills`", turned up in the deceased estate of a Sydney watch collector.
Burke and Wills Historical Society president Dave Phoenix said the serial number on the watch was one regularly featured in Wills`s expedition journals.
Three watches were used for navigation during the expedition, with each referred to by its individual serial number.
Burke and Wills died of starvation when they returned to their base camp at Cooper Creek.
Wills’s dying wish was that his last letter and his watch be returned to his father in Melbourne.
John King, the sole survivor of the expedition, handed over the watch in November 1861.
After moving down the Wills family by descent, the watch had been in the possession of the late vendor for the past 20 years.
The watch will be auctioned by Bonhams & Goodman in Sydney on September 22.
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