# Charles Whitham

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Australian writer

**Charles Whitham** was an Australian writer. He wrote the oft-reprinted *Western Tasmania: A land of Riches and Beauty*, which was a comprehensive study of the geographical features of [West Coast, Tasmania](/source/West_Coast%2C_Tasmania) and the conditions of the region in the 1920s.

## Early life

Charles Whitham was born in India in 1873. He and his parents travelled to Tasmania in 1886.

His first book was published in 1917.[1]

## *Western Tasmania*

The book was originally published in 1924[2] and reprinted in 1949[3] and in 1984.[4] Extracts from the book were reproduced in *[The Mercury](/source/The_Mercury_(Hobart))* in the 1930s.[5] The book is a mix of geographical and historical information about the west coast, and includes sections on [Macquarie Harbour](/source/Macquarie_Harbour) and the [Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company](/source/Mount_Lyell_Mining_and_Railway_Company).

Whitham had personally travelled to many of the locations and features that he described as well as to most of the peaks of the [West Coast Range](/source/West_Coast_Range). His photographs in the [State Library of Tasmania](/source/State_Library_of_Tasmania) attest to some of the places that he had visited.

It was not until the writing of [Geoffrey Blainey](/source/Geoffrey_Blainey)'s *[The Peaks of Lyell](/source/The_Peaks_of_Lyell)* in the 1950s that the history and geography of the west coast of Tasmania was thoroughly reviewed and showed the important contribution of Whitham's earlier work.

A collection of articles by Whitham was collected by Kleinig in the 2000s.[6][7]

## Later life and death

Whitham moved to Sydney in the 1920s, and died there in December 1940.[8][9][10]

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Whitham, Charles; Mount Lyell Tourist Association (1917), [*The book of Mount Lyell and the Gordon: a land of riches and beauty*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/19267333), Mount Lyell Tourist Association, retrieved 20 June 2015

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Whitham, Charles; Mount Lyell Tourist Association (1924), [*Western Tasmania: a land of riches and beauty*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12518157), Mount Lyell Tourist Association, retrieved 20 June 2015

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Whitham, Charles; Robert Sticht Memorial Library. Board of Management (1949), [*Western Tasmania: a land of riches and beauty*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12518157), Board of Management, Robert Sticht Memorial Library, retrieved 20 June 2015

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Whitham, Charles (1984), [*Western Tasmania: a land of riches and beauty*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12518157), Municipality of Queenstown, retrieved 20 June 2015

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["WEST COAST NEWS"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24896396). *[The Mercury](/source/The_Mercury_(Hobart))*. Vol. CXXXIX, no. 20,615. Tasmania, Australia. 2 September 1933. p. 12. Retrieved 23 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Whitham, Charles; Kleinig, Simon (2010), *Rambles in Western Tasmania: articles by Charles Whitham, 1912 to 1924*, Tasmanian Historical Research Association, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-909479-25-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-909479-25-1)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Felton, Ken (2011), "Rambles in Western Tasmania: Articles by Charles Whitham 1912-1924 [Book Review]", *Papers and Proceedings: Tasmanian Historical Research Association*, **58** (3): 236–237, [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0039-9809](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0039-9809)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** *The Author* p.iv of the 1949 and 1984 editions of *Western Tasmania*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["OBITUARY Mr. Charles Whitham"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25839470). *[The Mercury](/source/The_Mercury_(Hobart))*. Vol. CLII, no. 21, 862. Tasmania. 21 December 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 24 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["OBITUARY"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68395664). *[The Advocate (Australia)](/source/The_Advocate_(Tasmania))*. Tasmania, Australia. 19 December 1940. p. 8. Retrieved 24 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.

## External links

- [Charles Whitham photographs - online at State Library of Tasmania](https://web.archive.org/web/20060821154700/http://images.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/Search/Search.asp?Letter=W&Creator=Whitham%2C+Charles)

v t e Western region of Tasmania, Australia Cities and other settlements Queenstown Crotty Darwin Dundas Gormanston Guildford Linda Pillinger Regatta Point Rosebery Strahan Tullah Waratah Williamsford Zeehan Governance Braddon (federal) Braddon (state) Franklin Land District Montgomery Land District Montagu Land District West Coast Council Lyell Murchison Zeehan Mountains West Coast Range Black Darwin Dundas Heemskirk Huxley Jukes Lyell Murchison Owen Read Read Volcanics Sedgwick Sorell Strahan Zeehan Tyndall Geikie Tyndall Eldon Eldon Peak Engineer unnamed peak Raglan unnamed peak Sticht unnamed peak National parks Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Rivers Anne Anthony Franklin Gordon Henty King Lea Mackintosh Murchison Pieman Queen Sophia Lakes Beatrice Burbury Dora Gordon Mackintosh Murchison Pieman Rosebery Westwood Dams Anthony Crotty Darwin Gordon Henty Mackintosh Tullabardine Lake Margaret Murchison Reece Power stations Anthony Power Development Bastyan Gordon John Butters Lake Margaret Mackintosh Reece Tribute Transport Anthony Road Hercules Haulage Lyell Highway Murchison Highway Queenstown Airport Strahan Airport Railways Emu Bay Macquarie Heads breakwater Melba Mount Dundas-Zeehan North East Dundas North Mount Lyell Wee Georgie Wood West Coast Wilderness Zeehan-Strahan Railway stations and former railway stations Queenstown Zeehan Landmarks Natural Birchs Inlet Cape Sorell Darwin Crater Granville Harbour Hells Gates Iron Blow Kelly Basin Linda Valley Macquarie Harbour Montezuma Falls Nelson Falls Ocean Beach Trial Harbour Man-made Cape Sorell Lighthouse Gaiety Theatre Galley Museum Paragon Theatre Queenstown Oval People of note Convicts on the West Coast Crotty Davey Gould Joyce Long Moore Pearce Piguenit Piners Sticht Whitham Mining Comstock Mine Copper Mines Henty Gold Mine Mount Jukes Mine sites Mount Lyell Mining & Railway Company Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program North Mount Lyell North Mount Lyell Disaster (1912) Renison Bell Stichtite West Coast Tasmania Mines Books and newspapers For the Term of His Natural Life Gould's Book of Fish The Peaks of Lyell West Coast Miner Zeehan & Dundas Herald Other Darwin glass The Unconformity Round Earth Theatre Company Tasmanian West bioregion Western Tasmanian Football Association Western Tasmanian languages

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Charles Whitham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitham) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitham?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.