Joseph Wild

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Joseph Wild (also Wilde) (c.1759 or 1773 - 1847) was an early explorer of Australia. He was sentenced on 21 August 1793 in Chester for shooting a rabbit on another's property. Wild was transported to Australia as a convict in 1797, arriving in Port Jackson (Sydney) on the ship the Ganges on 2 June. He was under the charge of physician and pastoralist Charles Throsby and together they later became explorers in southern New South Wales. In particular they were the first Europeans to explore the area that became the Australian Capital Territory and Wild was credited with the discovery of Lake George. In 1810 he received a ticket-of-leave and in January 1813 he was granted a conditional pardon. On 9 December 1815 Wild was appointed first Constable of the Five Islands District (now Illawarra). During the next few years he accompanied Throsby on many expeditions throughout New South Wales. In 1819 he was granted 100 acres in Sutton Forest for services for Throsby and in 1821 he was appointed constable of the County of Argyle. It is said that he and his wife Elizabeth had a large family. He died on the 25th May 1847 when he was gored by a bull at Wingecarribee Swamp. He was the first person to be buried behind the church in the Bong Bong Cemetery, Moss Vale, New South Wales.