Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Calvert, James Snowden
CALVERT, JAMES SNOWDEN (1825–1884), Australian explorer, was born on 13 July 1825, and received his schooling in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London, where his family successively resided after leaving the border. Having friends in New South Wales, Calvert and a brother decided to go out thither in 1840, and on the voyage, in the ship Sir Edward Paget, contracted a lasting friendship with Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt, the well-known explorer, afterwards lost in the bush, who was their fellow-passenger. The result was that Calvert agreed to accompany Dr. Leichhardt on his first expedition, providing his own horses and outfit. The party left Moreton Bay settlement (Brisbane) in 1844 for Port Essington, on the north coast, and after many hardships and difficulties, including numerous conflicts with the blacks, accomplished their mission and returned to Sydney late in 1845. Full particulars of the expedition will be found in Dr. Leichhardt's subsequently published narrative of the journey. Calvert was an exhibitor at the earlier exhibitions in London and Paris, and at the London Exhibition of 1862 was awarded a silver medal for his collection of Australian paper-making materials. Soon after the arrival of Sir Wm. Denison as governor he was placed on the commission of the peace at Sydney. He married the well-known Australian authoress, Miss Laura Atkinson [see Calvert, Caroline Louisa Waring, née Atkinson], and after that lady's sudden death in 1872 he led a retired life. He died in New South Wales 22 July 1884.
[Heaton's Dict. Australian Biog.; Exhibition Reports; Leichhardt's Journal of an Overland Journey (London, 1847).]