John Charles Darke

John Charles Darke (1806–22 October 1844) was a surveyor and explorer in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and South Australia.

In January 1826, Darke joined Lieutenant Williams of the 40th Regiment in pursuit and capture of the bushranger, Thomas Jeffries, and in consequence was granted 500 acres of land.

He wrote a letter of resignation in November 1839 (probably due to his romantic attachment to a Miss Elizabeth Carter), and was sacked on 31 December 1839 for being absent from duty.

[2] In 1840 Darke married Elizabeth Isabella Carter, sister-in-law to South Australia police inspector Alexander Tolmer.

In 1844 Darke was named as the leader of a privately funded expedition to explore the country west and north-west of Port Lincoln and Spencer Gulf.

His death is recorded by Theakston: "I here dressed the wounds of Mr Darke, and bled him, but found his extremities getting cold, and I informed him.

I carried the body of Mr Darke to the Table Topped Peaks and buried him on a small grassy plain at the foot of them, in a grave five feet deep.

"[7] The government of South Australia created a reserve around the grave site in 1910 and erected an obelisk surrounded by an iron fence.

Darke's widow, Elizabeth, remarried at Sydney in 1858 to prominent physician and author Dr Julius Berncastle MD MRCS (1819–1870).