Robert O’Hara Burke (1821–61)

Irish-born explorer and police officer. Served as an officer in the Austrian army and the Irish Mounted Constabulary before migrating to Australia in 1853, where he joined the police force. Superintendent of police in the Castlemaine district, 1858. In 1860, commissioned by the Royal Society of Victoria to lead the exploring expedition to traverse the continent from south to north.