Peter Warburton

Peter Warburton

Colonel Peter Egerton-Warburton CMG (born 16 August 1813, Cheshire, England – died 5 November 1889, Adelaide, South Australia) was a British explorer who sealed his legacy by a particularly daring expedition from Adelaide crossing the centre of Australia to the coast of Western Australia via Alice Springs in 1872.

A younger brother of Rowland Egerton-Warburton, Peter was educated at home in Cheshire and by tutors in France before being commissioned in the Royal Navy at the age of 12, serving as a Midshipman in HMS Windsor Castle.

Egerton-Warburton was seconded to the Indian Army and served in India from 1831 until 1853, before retiring as Deputy Adjutant-General with the rank of Major.

Egerton-Warburton married on 8 October 1838 Alicia (who died 1892), daughter of Henry Mant, a solicitor, however by the time of his arrival in Australia, he had apparently adopted the pseudonym of Peter Warburton. His father Rev Rowland Egerton, who was in remainder to the Egerton baronetcy (as too are his descendants), assumed by Royal Licence, the additional surname of Warburton in accordance with the terms of his wife's inheritance, viz. the Arley and Warburton estates.

In 1853 Warburton visited his brother George and his wife Augusta (daughter of Sir Richard Spencer), in Albany, Western Australia. From there, he went to South Australia to take up the position of Commissioner of Police in the Colony of South Australia on 8 December.

Following an internal police force inquiry in 1867, to which evidence was given against him but not disclosed, it was suggested to Warburton that he might find ... other employment more congenial to his habits and tastes. The allegations against him were never substantiated and he staunchly refused to resign, although he was dismissed in early 1867. A subsequent Legislative Council inquiry recommended his reinstatement; however, on 24 March 1869, he accepted appointment as Chief Staff Officer and Colonel of the Volunteer Military Force of South Australia.

Based on expeditions undertaken, it appears that he was accused of allowing his passionate interest in exploration, which required long periods in isolation, to distract him from normal police duties. Warburton later received further honours in recognition of his groundbreaking work.