Famous Devonians

He may not have worn a big brown hat or carried a whip...but Torquay-born explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett was a real-life Indiana Jones.

In fact, it's thought he was the inspiration behind the movie character made famous by actor Harrison Ford.

Fawcett - or Lieutenant Colonel Fawcett to give him his full title - was born in Torquay in 1867 and went missing in South America in 1925, while on a quest to find the hidden city known as 'Z.'

Educated at Newton School, Newton Abbot, Fawcett went on to join the Royal Artillery.

His daring-do exploits began when the Foreign Office sent him to Morocco as an undercover officer.

Fawcett goes fishing on one of his expeditions

He was tasked with drawing up routes, and his accounts of journeys in the region appeared in the War Office's Military Report on Morocco in 1903.

He learned surveying skills and did more work for the War Office before being promoted to major.

All of these experiences stood him in good stead for the adventures which lay ahead.

In the early 1900s, he was employed by the Bolivian government to map an area which was known to be rich in minerals such as gold and diamonds.

The terrain - forests and waterways - was tough - and there were also dangerous snakes and insects on the loose.

Not all the locals were exactly welcoming either, fearing visitors to be plunderers or slave raiders.

Fawcett successfully surveyed the Bolivian-Brazil border areas, and returned to South America several times to carry out further work.

His expeditions were interrupted by the First World War, when he served in the trenches.

After the war, he decided the future lay in the so-called New World and he set off for Brazil.

Fawcett became obsessed with his quest for 'Z'

He became enchanted by tales of 'hidden cities,' and amazing minerals.

After reading about a hidden, ancient, uninhabited city which was supposedly discovered in 1753, Fawcett applied for the funding needed to begin his quest for 'Z.'

In his final letter to his wife - sent on 29 May 1925 - he wrote: "You need have no fear of failure." However, Fawcett and his party then mysteriously disappeared.

Search parties were sent out, but to no avail. There were many rumours as to what might have happened - but the truth has never been uncovered.

Sadly, it seems Fawcett's quest for Z was doomed all along: the city has never been found, or even seen from the air.

Fawcett is among the local explorers celebrated in the Explorers Gallery in Torquay Museum.

* Photos courtesy of Torquay Museum
* Biography source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography