Heroic Stuart

Illustration of John McDouall Stuart leaning on a rifle and armed with two pistols attached to his belt. Lithograph was created in Adelaide by Penman & Galbraith.

This may be the popular image of John McDouall Stuart, but like the design of the statue in Victoria Square, it was an image wholly at odds with the character of the man himself, and in the view of his companions on his many expeditions.

Stuart is depicted as shy, unassuming and reserved by his biographer Webster. His journals are understatements of the difficulties he overcame and of his achievements; not the type of man depicted in the image with pistols tucked into his belt. Stuart and his men generally kept their guns in holsters on the saddles. Stuart as seen in the photograph shows a determined man, but not one who would swagger with guns in his belt. He is also depicted by Stephen King, the artist of the final expedition, as wearing a sola topi (pith helmet) rather than the bush hat of the drawing.

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