sketcher, amateur photographer, geologist and telegraph operator, was born in England on 2 March 1836.
HORACE BURKITT was born 2 March 1836, in Surrey, England. At age 16, because of continuing problems in England and Europe, his family sent him to Australia. In November 1852 he arrived in Melbourne on the sailing ship “Arundle” and worked on odd jobs and as a Shipping Clerk until 1854, when he was appointed Clerk to the Harbour Master, Melbourne.
From 1856 until 1861 he worked for the telegraph service in Geelong and Melbourne and opened offices in Kyneton and Portland. He then moved to Brisbane and in 1862 travelled to the newly explored Mackay in north Queensland where he and a friend opened a slab hut store.
Shortly afterwards his father sent him back to England on family matters. He studied dentistry and married his cousin, Sara Maria Goldsmith in August, 1864. They returned to Australia in January 1865 and went to Ipswich, where Burkitt worked as a dentist and chemist’s assistant.
By September 1865, the couple, with their infant daughter, had left by ship, via Rockhampton, to St. Lawrence. While there Burkitt worked in various government roles from Clerk of Petty Sessions to Shipping Master. In April 1875 Horace was appointed as Magistrate and Sub-Collector of Customs to Bundaberg and spent ten years there. In March 1885, by which time the Burkitts had had 9 children, Horace and his family were transferred to Cooktown, then a very busy port for the Goldfields. His position in Cooktown was Sub-Collector of Customs, Marine Magistrate and Protector of Aboriginals.
In 1895 Horace was transferred to Mackay for one final year of public service. He retired to Brisbane where he built a house at Oxley, “Birkenhead”. He died there at age 83 on 21 August 1919.
Besides painting and photography, Burkitt was skilled in geology. In 1871 he reported to the Collector of Customs, on a copper bearing load near St Lawrence.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2013
