Francis William Cadell (9 February 1822 – 1879) was a European explorer of Australia, most remembered for opening the Murray River up for transport by steamship and for his activities as a slave trader.

[1] He first arrived in Australia in January 1849 as captain of the schooner Royal Sovereign, visiting Adelaide, Circular Head and Sydney,[2] sailing in ballast for Singapore in June.

[3] In 1850 the South Australian government had offered a bonus of £4,000 to be equally divided between the owners of the first two iron steamers that should successfully navigate the Murray from Goolwa to the junction of the Darling River.

The government's bonus for the navigation of the Murray River had not been claimed and Cadell stayed in Adelaide, formulating a design for a suitable steamboat in partnership with his father's agent, William Younghusband.

Cadell was also presented with a gold medal struck by the Legislative Council, and he joined with William Younghusband, George Young and others in forming the River Murray Steam Navigation Company, whose charter received royal assent in 1854.

[14] In February 1867, following the failure of Finniss's settlement at Escape Cliffs, the South Australian government sent Cadell to the Northern Territory "to fix upon a proper site for the survey of 300,000 acres (1,200 km2)".

In 1875 magistrate Robert Fairbairn was sent to investigate pearling conditions at Shark Bay, following reports that Malays employed by Cadell and Charles Broadhurst were unpaid, unable to return home and some had starved to death.

[20] Cadell then took up trading in the Dutch East Indies, and when sailing in the Gem to the Kei Islands near New Guinea he was murdered by the cook's mate, about March 1879.