The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Favenc, Ernest
Favenc, Ernest, the explorer and historian of exploration, was born in London and educated in Berlin, arriving in New South Wales in 1863. After residing in Sydney a year he relinquished his commercial employment and went on to a station in the frontier squatting districts of Northern Queensland, where he was actively engaged during the early pioneering times. Subsequently he gave his attention to "overlanding" (i.e. taking cattle across country) and wrote for the press under the nom de plume of "Dramingo." In 1878 the proprietor of the Queenslander newspaper employed him to explore the line of country extending from Blackall, on the west boundary line of Queensland, to Port Darwin, with the view of solving the question then being debated as to whether a railway could be constructed across the continent along that route. The task was successfully performed by Mr. Favenc at the head of a small and well-equipped party. In 1888 Messrs. Favenc and Crawford explored the McArthur from the Queensland boundary, In 1888 Mr. Favenc published a "History of Australian Exploration" (London and Sydney). Mr. Favenc has the advantage of being a good artist as well as a facile writer. His magnum opus, the "History of Australian Exploration," was dedicated to Sir Henry Parkes, and was published in one large volume at the expense of the New South Wales Government. Prior to the issue of the work on Exploration, Mr. Favenc had published two other brochures, entitled respectively, "The Great Australian Plain," and "Western Australia."