Ernest Favenc (21 October 1845 – 14 November 1908) was an explorer of Australia, a journalist, author of verse, novels and short stories, and an historian.
Personal life
Favenc was born in Walworth, Surrey, England. Of Huguenot descent, he was the son of Abraham George Favenc, merchant, and his wife Emma, née Jones. He was educated at the Werdersches Gymnasium, Berlin and at Temple College, Cowley, Oxfordshire.
Favenc arrived in New South Wales in 1864, and, after being in the colony for about a year, in a commercial position, he afterwards worked in the pastoral industry in the frontier squatting districts of Queensland.
Favenc married Elizabeth Jones Matthews on 15 November 1880 in Sydney. Favenc died at his Darlinghurst home in Sydney on 14 November 1908, and was survived by Elizabeth Jane and their daughter.
Exploration
In July 1878 the proprietor of The Queenslander newspaper employed him to explore the country along the western border of Queensland to Darwin to evaluate the possibility of connecting the Queensland Railways to Port Darwin. The journey took him six months, and he reported that such a line would be feasible. Unusually for the period, his wife Emma was also part of the expedition party.
In the early 1880s he also undertook expeditions in the country to the south of the Gulf of Carpentaria and to the headwaters of the Murchison, Gascoyne and Ashburton rivers of Western Australia.
In 1882 he and his wife were on Thursday Island when they were joined by Emily and Harry Alington Creaghe who had married the year before. They intended to explore and they travelled by sea to Normanton and landed on 17 January 1883.
