John Irving
Maneroo Plains c1842

JOHN IRVING, a naval lieutenant, is a notable but little known character of old Manaro. Born in 1815, he came to New South Wales in 1837, and turned his attention to sheep farming. For some little time he resided in Goulburn, but later became a squatter on Maneroo Plains. In the autumn of 1842 he had been to Sydney and sold his wool, and was about to return to his home - when he was induced to join up with the sea once more. He was a member of Sir John Franklin's Arctic Expedition which, sailing in 1845, reached the magnetic pole and discovered the north-west passage, only to perish about 1848 or 1849 on the desolate ice girt shores of King William's Island, where some years later, remains which were identified as his were found by the United States search party.

Transcribed by Pattrick Mould in 2003, from the book "Back to Coma' Celebrations" page 80