(A-Z) Armit, Henry William (1870 - 1930)
William Edington (de Margrat) Armit (1848 - 1901), by unknown photographer, 1883, courtesy of La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria.
A/S27/08/83/157. .
Image Details
ARMIT, WILLIAM EDINGTON (1848-1901), policeman, journalist, explorer and public servant, was born on 10 May 1848 at Liège, Belgium, son of John Lees Armit and his wife Elizabeth, née Yeldham. His father was described as 'rentier' and then as 'major in the army'. William later adopted a third Christian name, de Margrat. He seems to have served in a continental army before he arrived in Australia, probably in 1870. At Cleveland Bay, Queensland, while employed as a stockman, he married Mary Ann Barton on 22 September 1871. On 5 June 1872 he was appointed sub-inspector in the Queensland Native Police and later served in the police districts of Murray River, Waterview, Cashmere, Georgetown, Dunrobin, Brisbane, Bynoe, and Carl Creek. On 15 July 1880 he was dismissed for undue familiarity with his subordinates but asked for reconsideration of his case and was reappointed on 31 December. On 14 April 1882 he was again dismissed. During his police service Armit began writing for the press under the pseudonym, 'A Queensland Police Officer'. According to the Bulletin, his articles included 'some first class alligator and nigger lies'.
In 1883 when the Melbourne Argus decided to send an expedition to New Guinea, Armit was appointed special correspondent in command. After fitting out his party on Thursday Island, he left Port Moresby on 14 July accompanied by an eccentric American scientist, Professor William Denton, and his two sons, J. Loftus Irving who was described by the Dentons as 'an English dude', Robert Hunter, an English bushman, and George Belford, a Samoan halfcaste. After a ten-day march into the mountains the party separated. Denton's sons began scientific collecting at the village, Narianooma, while the rest of the party moved on. On 17 August at the village, Paumau, beyond Sogeri, Armit gained detailed information about the track to the north coast but since supplies were short and fever was imminent he decided to turn back. The return journey was disastrous. Armit and Belford were prostrated by fever and on 26 August Denton senior died from exhaustion and his own eccentric medical theories. The expedition reached Port Moresby on 3 September. Armit again settled in north Queensland and attempted to make a living as a journalist and naturalist round Port Douglas and Cooktown. During this period his wife bore him two sons and a daughter.
In 1893 Armit returned to New Guinea as private secretary to the administrator, Dr William MacGregor. After temporary charge of the Mekeo and Rigo districts in 1894, he was appointed on 20 November 1895 sub-collector of customs at Samarai; there he remained for two years. Late in 1897 he resigned but rejoined the public service as assistant resident magistrate in the northern division in 1899. Later that year he was promoted resident magistrate. He died on 3 January 1901 and was buried in the miners' cemetery at the Ioma government station.
In 1875 an entirely fictitious account, Wanderings in the Interior of New Guinea, was published in London under the name of Captain J. A. Lawson. Many, including Armit's son Lionel and Hugh Romilly, have alleged that Armit was the real author. Edward Augustus Petherick and others have ascribed the book to Lieutenant Robert Henry Armit, a naval surveyor who was employed in New Guinea waters in the late 1860s and who promoted a scheme for the colonization of New Guinea in 1875-76. This question remains unsolved.
W. E. Armit was slightly built and reputedly had remarkable powers of endurance. He was a fluent and lively writer; his deep interest in natural history led him to publish many scientific papers and justified his election as fellow of the Linnean and Royal Geographical Societies.
Select Bibliography
British New Guinea, Annual Report, 1894-1901; G. Souter, New Guinea: The Last Unknown (Syd, 1963); Government Gazette (British New Guinea), 1894-1901; Australasian, 7 July–29 Dec 1883; Pacific Islands Monthly, May, June, Oct 1961; Rev. W. G. Lawes journal, 1883 (State Library of New South Wales). More on the resources
Author: H. J. Gibbney
Print Publication Details: H. J. Gibbney, 'Armit, William Edington (de Margrat) (1848 - 1901)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, p. 48.
