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and then, via
Brisbane, Normanton, Darwin, Alice Springs and Adelaide back to Sydney, where he based himself. In 1909 he published the story of his feat, "Lonely Lands", which he illustrated with his own photographs. That year he also set a new cycling record for the Fremantle to Sydney continental crossing. In 1910–11 he rode around Australia. In 1911, he was accompanied from Sydney to Darwin by R. Primmer, cameraman for the
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Birtles returned to
Fremantle, Western Australia, and on 26 December 1905 left to cycle to Melbourne, an achievement which attracted widespread attention as it was the first west to east bicycle crossing of the country. After a short stretch as a lithographic artist, in 1907–08, he cycled to Sydney
100:
Company. The resulting film "Across
Australia" was released the next year. Birtles had continued on to Broome and Perth, then broke his previous records by riding from Fremantle to Sydney in thirty-one days. By 1912, he had cycled around Australia twice and had crossed the continent seven times.
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in 1899, in an attempt to enlist with
Australian militia. However, he was attached to the Field Intelligence Department as part of a troop of irregular mounted infantry until May 1902. After a brief period back in Australia, Birtles joined the constabulary in the a mounted police officer in the
260:. In an era when there were few roads and gasoline supplies sparse, the epic eight-month journey carried him across mountains, deserts and through tropical jungles and included a number of sea voyages – the last being from Singapore to Darwin. He travelled via Europe,
43:) was an Australian adventurer, photographer, cyclist, and filmmaker, who set many long-distance cycling and driving records, including becoming in 1927 the first man to drive a car from England to Australia. Birtles had set a speed record driving from
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car was presented to the
Australian Government on condition that it be placed in the national museum. As there was no such museum at the time, the car disappeared for many years before being recovered in the 1960s and placed into the
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with a prospecting and mining expedition in search of gold, after having found some several years previously during one of his journeys. He subsequently sold his share in the mining stake and retired a wealthy man.
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245:. With his co-driver Alec Barlow, they left Darwin at 4 am on 23 October 1926 and completed the 5,440 km (3,380 mi) journey in eight days and 13 hours, a record. The car was dubbed the
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206:' and was released by The Co-Operative Film Exchange Ltd of Melbourne, and opened in Melbourne at Hoyt's Olympia Theatre on Christmas Day 1915.
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Following this success, Birtles was asked to make an attempt at becoming the first person to drive from
England to Australia. He departed from
194:, and Brisbane, arriving in Melbourne at the end of September 1915 having covered 7,000 miles in seven months. He then drove from Melbourne to
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car from Darwin to
Melbourne. In addition to the Bean sponsorship, Birtles' fuel was provided by the British Imperial Oil Company, the
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On arrival in Darwin, his car was seized by customs officials demanding import duty, until direct intervention by the Prime
Minister
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Birtles had completed more than 70 transcontinental crossings of
Australia by mid-1927, details of which were described in his book
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On 21 September 1912 Birtles with his brother Clive and bulldog 'Wowser' left
Melbourne in a blue 20 hp
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Darwin to Adelaide, 9 days, 9 hours, 15 minutes: Francis Birtles' history making journey, 18–27 Nov 1924
150:' track. Birtles took a movie camera and made a cinematographic record of the journey. Birtles reached
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On Saturday, 13 February 1915 Birtles left Sydney for a six-month-long motoring tour following
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427:. Edited and compiled by G.W. Whatmore. Adelaide, South Australia: Duncan & Fraser Ltd.
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3,500 miles across Australia in a Ford car: From the Gulf of Carpentaria to Port Philip Bay
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on 25 July 1928. He was promptly asked to move on by a policeman for obstructing traffic.
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and Sydney to the official finishing point of the journey at the General Post Office on
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In 1912, he became one of the first people to make a west to east crossing by car from
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in London on 19 October 1927, farewelled by a crowd of wellwishers including the 1927
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on 1 March, where he spent two weeks recovering from an illness, before driving to
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Birtles was married twice. Birtles married Frances Knight on 27 November 1920 at
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Francis Birtles with bicycle loaded for marathon cross-country ride, ca. 1920
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746:. Broken Hill, NSW: National Library of Australia. 15 June 1928. p. 3
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to finish the movie of the Burke and Wills' track. The film was called '
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Birtles also made several films of his encounters with the outback and
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https://archive.org/stream/lonelylandsthrou00birtiala#page/n7/mode/2up
647:. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 6 November 1926. p. 26
710:"Preserving significance: Why the journey mattered more than the car"
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774:. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 26 July 1928. p. 12
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in 1980 before moving to the National Historical Collection in the
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Clive Birtles at the wheel of the car with the dog, Wowser. c.1915
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Birtles' Bean 14 'Sundowner' at the National Museum of Australia
59:, and Sarah Jane Bartlett. At the age of 15, Birtles joined the
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used for the Darwin to Adelaide overland speed record trip 1924
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Birtles was the third child of David Edwin Birtles, an English
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on Saturday, 5 June 1915, and then drove to Melbourne via
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border and he arrived back in Melbourne in January 1913.
510:. National Library of Australia. 2 July 1941. p. 11
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80:, until his police service ended when he contracted
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221:As a publicity stunt, Birtles was commissioned by
204:Across Australia: In the Tracks of Burke and Wills
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467:Across Australia in the Track of Burke and Wills
63:as an apprentice, but after the outbreak of the
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302:averted the situation. He continued south via
793:Lonely Lands: Through the Heart of Australia
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898:National Museum of Australia on preservation
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415:Lonely Lands: Through the Heart of Australia
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539:. Canberra: National Centre of Biography,
434:. Melbourne: British Imperial Oil Co. Ltd.
313:The journey was not repeated until 1955.
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860:Francis Birtles – Australian Adventurer
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838:Grit: An Epic Journey Across the World
139:. From the Gulf he drove close to the
453:Across Australia with Francis Birtles
361:Across Australia with Francis Birtles
935:Australian people of English descent
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531:"Birtles, Francis Edwin (1881–1941)"
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536:Australian Dictionary of Biography
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884:Works by or about Francis Birtles
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241:, and the tyres were provided by
16:Australian adventurer (1881–1941)
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47:to Melbourne the previous year.
945:Expatriates in Transvaal Colony
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672:"Birtles and the Sundowner car"
383:Frances and Nea Birtles in 1935
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541:Australian National University
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481:Coorab in the Island of Ghosts
441:. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
389:St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
369:Coorab in the Island of Ghosts
347:In 1933, Birtles travelled to
225:, the Melbourne agent for the
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930:People from Fitzroy, Victoria
840:. Ibis Publishing Australia.
592:Veteran Car Club of Australia
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708:Thurrowgood, D.; Hallan, D.
676:National Museum of Australia
338:National Museum of Australia
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588:"2012 Centenary Expedition"
393:St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
308:Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
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766:"BY MOTOR-CAR FROM LONDON"
529:Birtles, Terry G. (1979).
112:with driver Syd Ferguson.
507:The Sydney Morning Herald
622:www.burkeandwills.net.au
474:Through Australian Wilds
460:Into Australia's Unknown
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439:Battle Fronts of Outback
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365:Into Australia's Unknown
318:Battle Fronts of Outback
41:Croydon, New South Wales
717:Australian War Memorial
940:Australian expatriates
862:. Hachette Australia.
502:"FRANCIS BIRTLES DEAD"
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357:Indigenous Australians
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290:, the record breaking
229:, to drive a modified
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818:. William Heinemann.
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330:National Motor Museum
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239:Sir Charles Wakefield
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33:Francis Edwin Birtles
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903:4 March 2005 at the
419:N.S.W. Bookstall Co.
127:to drive to Sydney,
125:Flanders touring car
67:, he jumped ship at
35:(7 November 1881 in
154:on 25 February and
137:Gulf of Carpentaria
816:A Time To Remember
618:"Across Australia"
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174:. Birtles reached
141:Northern Territory
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869:978-0-7336-2867-2
743:The Barrier Miner
738:"FRANCIS BIRTLES"
550:978-0-522-84459-7
397:Waverley Cemetery
39:– 1 July 1941 in
37:Fitzroy, Victoria
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888:Internet Archive
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719:. Archived from
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678:. Archived from
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639:"Birtles Record"
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254:Australia House
170:, and Maree to
148:Burke and Wills
133:Charters Towers
108:to Sydney in a
65:Second Boer War
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51:Life and career
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925:1941 deaths
920:1881 births
367:(1914) and
349:Arnhem Land
152:Broken Hill
73:Cape Colony
27:Arnhem Land
25:Birtles in
914:Categories
812:Peter Luck
778:16 October
750:16 October
651:16 October
514:16 October
488:References
417:. Sydney:
359:including
272:), India,
771:The Argus
559:1833-7538
344:in 2001.
288:Sundowner
247:Sundowner
227:Bean cars
213:Birtles'
196:Swan Hill
192:Toowoomba
186:, Tambo,
184:Hughenden
180:Cape York
176:Normanton
106:Fremantle
78:Transvaal
69:Cape Town
57:bootmaker
901:Archived
858:(2012).
836:(2005).
814:(1989).
644:The Mail
567:70677943
371:(1929).
363:(1912),
342:Canberra
334:Adelaide
320:(1935).
304:Brisbane
200:Menindee
156:Adelaide
129:Brisbane
886:at the
292:Bean 14
235:Castrol
231:Bean 14
98:Gaumont
866:
844:
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686:23 May
597:29 May
572:29 May
565:
557:
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479:1929.
472:1919.
465:1915.
458:1914.
451:1912.
437:1935.
430:1924.
423:1913.
413:1909.
278:Malaya
266:Persia
45:Darwin
724:(PDF)
713:(PDF)
446:Films
408:Books
403:Works
274:Burma
268:(now
262:Egypt
168:Quorn
160:Burra
864:ISBN
842:ISBN
820:ISBN
780:2011
752:2011
688:2024
653:2011
599:2012
574:2012
563:OCLC
555:ISSN
545:ISBN
516:2011
325:Bean
276:and
270:Iran
198:and
188:Roma
340:in
332:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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