Charles Cooke Hunt

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Charles Cooke Hunt (1833 - 1 March 1868) was an explorer of Western Australia who led four expeditions between 1864 and 1866. He died in Geraldton.

Charles Hunt was a navigator when he arrived in the Swan River Colony in 1863. He started working as an assistant surveyor in Fremantle before being appointed as a surveyor to Walter Padbury in the Nikol Bay area. Hunt explored the coast into the area now known as Port Hedland. The pass between the De Grey River district and Nikol Bay district was later named after him.^[1]

In 1864, he was asked to look for the pastoral land and water supplies identified along the route of Henry Lefroy's 1863 expedition into the Coolgardie area. Hunt's party of six included Kowitch, the Aboriginal guide from Lefroy's expedition. Leaving York on 9 July they reached Gnarlbine Rock on 16 August. From Gnarlbine the party headed east towards Lake Lefroy. Hunt gave a good report of the grasslands that Lefroy had sighted and these were later named after Governor Hampton.^[2]

His third expedition was between January and October 1865 and he led the expedition of six pensioner guards, ten convicts and George Mundial, an Aboriginal. This expedition was sent to establish a track and enlarge wells between York and Gnarlbine to enable livestock to be moved to the Hampton Plains. In all, they established 23 wells.^[2]

In 1866, Hunt led another party to extend the track and wells to Lake Lefroy and create another track with wells leading north-east through the Coolgardie area. Hunt noted in his diaries that on many occasions he was "too ill to work today" but, in spite of this, he continued until the track was completed. Prospectors Bayley and Ford in 1891 used the new track and wells to gain access to the area in which they were to be successful in discovering gold. The track was later utilised by C.Y. O'Connor in building the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.^[2]^[1]