William Pearson (surveyor)

On 9 August 1864 Pearson was leader of a party of four (himself, Litchfield, Dyer and Murray) on horseback, sent by Manton to recover stores which had been left unguarded on the river bank and consequently plundered by Aborigines.

[6] Once Pearson had largely recovered from his wounds, he and Arthur Hamilton were sent to survey "The Narrows", the site on the Adelaide River selected by Finniss for a port, where one man was taken by a crocodile and another swept away in the swift current.

Pearson developed purpura but was accused by Finniss of malingering ("Pooh!, a few mosquito bites"),[7] and not until February 1865 permitted to return to base camp for treatment, sending Hamilton a labourer named Smith as his replacement.

In April 1865 Pearson and King, both on sick leave, and 15 others left Adam Bay on supply ship Bengal for Surabaya, where he and most of the others transshipped to Melbourne by the steamer Douglas.

The work was arduous and demanding, but two incidents are worth recounting: the campsite chosen for one stage, later world-famous as Broken Hill, site of the great silver mines,[9] and the hospitality shown the party by Alfred T. Dickens, son of the novelist, at Corona Station.