Born 1821 in Ireland; died June 28, 1861, in Australia. English explorer of Australia.
In 1860, Burke led an expedition in search of a route for the trans-Australian telegraph. He set out from Melbourne and reached the mouth of the Flinders River on the shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Burke was the first to cross the Australian continent in the meridional direction. He died on the return journey. A river that Burke discovered is named after him.