Francis Edwin Birtles (7 November 1881 in Fitzroy, Victoria – 1 July 1941 in Croydon, New South Wales[1]) was an Australian adventurer, photographer, cyclist, and filmmaker, who set many long-distance cycling and driving records, including becoming in 1927 the first man to drive a car from England to Australia. Birtles had set a speed record driving from Darwin to Melbourne the previous year.
- ^ "FRANCIS BIRTLES DEAD". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 2 July 1941. p. 11. Retrieved 16 October 2011.