Hume and Hovell

The Sydney Morning Herald

10 October 1924

Sir,

The centenary of the discovery by Hamilton Hume of the River Murray affords an opportunity to bring its title into conformity with the spirit of those days, and to perpetuate the memory of one richly entitled to be remembered. Hume, always well in the lead, is stated to have first beheld Australia's greatest river on November 15, 1824.

According to Thomas Boyd, one of the party, Hume declared he would call the river after his father, and he was cheered by the little band of pioneers on making this announcement.

Boyd, who was the last survivor of the expedition, always expressed his disgust at Hume's desire not being honoured, and held it was a shame that the name of a Secretary of State for the Colonies should have been allowed to displace one infinitely more worthy of the distinction.

Service is what we affect to hold in highest esteem to-day in contradistinction to the recognition given to officialdom in Hume's day.

It is open to show our regard for eminent service and correct an anomaly.

Murray had no hand or part in the discovery of the river, nor did he share the dangers and privations of the expedition. In short, he rendered no service, while Hume's proved invaluable.

His show of filial devotion itself has a touching appeal in it, to which none but the unfeeling can be indifferent.

Now is an appropriate time to redeem the past default to respect the wish of one of those sturdy explorers who blazed the trail and made the way easier for succeeding generations.

I am, etc., Mark B. Young. Oct. 6.