Landsborough was born on 21 February 1825, in
Stevenston,
Ayrshire,
Scotland, the son of
David Landsborough and his wife Margaret (
née McLeish). Landsborough was educated in
Irvine and migrated to Australia in 1842, several years after his brothers James and John. In August 1861, he was placed in charge of one of the four parties sent out to search for the lost explorers,
Burke and Wills. William and his wife Caroline returned to Australia in late 1864 to discover that while they were away their property in Broad Sound, Glen Prairie, had been sold under mysterious circumstances. The Landsborough River Company was also experiencing financial difficulties. In 1869, after years of drought and with facing increasing debt, Landsborough finally handed over his shareholdings in the company to Morehead and Young. Landsborough was made a Life Member of the
Queensland Legislative Council in 1865 but served for only one session. Looking for employment, towards the end of 1865 he was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands, Police Magistrate and Sub Collector of Customs for the district of
Burke in the Gulf country. Finding the township of
Burketown riddled with fever, he made
Sweers Island in the
Gulf of Carpentaria his headquarters. His wife and two children joined him soon afterwards, living on Sweers Island, and from there he did much local exploring. In 1882, the Queensland parliament voted Landsborough £2000 for his services as an explorer, and with this he purchased a pastoral property near present-day
Caloundra which he named
Loch Lamerough. He died and was buried there in March 1886. On 13 June 1913, his widow had him reburied at
Toowong Cemetery in
Brisbane. ==Legacy==