Formerly the
river had to be crossed by a rather difficult ford, but that had been
done away with in the time of King John, and replaced by a narrow bridge
of eight arches, which in its turn had been replaced in the time of
William and Mary by a wider bridge of three arches with a toll-gate upon
it, where all traffic except pedestrians had to contribute towards the
cost of its erection. A short distance to the right after crossing the
bridge was a monument to a former native of the town, to whom a
sorrowful memory was attached; it had been erected by subscription, and
was inscribed:
IN HONOR OF
WILLIAM JOHN WILLS
NATIVE OF TOTNES
THE FIRST WITH BURKE TO CROSS THE
AUSTRALIAN CONTINENT
HE PERISHED IN RETURNING, 28 JUNE
1861
When the Australian Government offered a reward for an exploration of
that Continent from north to south, Wills, at that time an assistant in
the Observatory at Melbourne, volunteered his services along with Robert
O'Hara Burke, an Irish police inspector. Burke was appointed leader of
the expedition, consisting of thirteen persons, which started from
Melbourne on August 20th, 1860, and in four months' time reached the
River Barco, to the east of Lake Eyre.
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