100-486: Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia , then called New Holland . He is also credited as being the first person to utilise the name Australia to describe the entirety of that continent including Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania ), a title he regarded as being "more agreeable to
200-581: A NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a colonel in the British Army and Royal Marines , and to a group captain in the Royal Air Force . There are similarly named equivalent ranks in the navies of many other countries. In the Royal Navy, the officer in command of any warship of the rank of commander and below is informally referred to as "the captain" on board, even though holding
300-471: A 334-ton sloop, and promoted to commander the following month. Investigator set sail for New Holland on 18 July 1801. Attached to the expedition were the botanist Robert Brown , botanical artist Ferdinand Bauer , landscape artist William Westall , gardener Peter Good , geological assistant John Allen, and John Crosley as astronomer. Vallance et al. comment that compared to the Baudin expedition this
400-520: A blockade of the island, and in June 1810 Flinders was paroled . Travelling via the Cape of Good Hope on Olympia , which was taking despatches back to Britain, he received a promotion to post-captain , before continuing to England. Flinders had been confined for the first few months of his captivity, but he was later afforded greater freedom to move around the island and access his papers. In November 1804 he sent
500-590: A decade after the Second World War . The title was probably used informally up until the abolition of frigate and destroyer squadrons with the Fleet FIRST reorganisation circa 2001. Ashore, the rank of captain is often verbally described as "captain RN" to distinguish it from the more junior Army and Royal Marines rank , and in naval contexts, as a "four-ring captain" (referring to the uniform lace) to avoid confusion with
600-508: A fertile appearance". After scaling the You Yangs to the northwest of Port Phillip on 1 May, he left a scroll of paper with the ship's name on it and deposited it in a small pile of stones at the top of the peak. With stores running low, Flinders proceeded to Sydney , arriving on 9 May 1802. Flinders spent 12 weeks and 2 days in Sydney resupplying and enlisting further crew for the continuation of
700-508: A junior rank, but formally is titled "the commanding officer" (or CO). Until the nineteenth century, Royal Navy officers who were captains by rank and in command of a naval vessel were referred to as post-captains ; this practice is now defunct. Captain (D) or Captain Destroyers, afloat, was an operational appointment commanding a destroyer flotilla or squadron , and there was a corresponding administrative appointment ashore, until at least
800-558: A map that Flinders had constructed from all the information he had accumulated while he was in Australian waters and finished while he was detained by the French in Mauritius . Flinders explained in his letter to Banks: The propriety of the name Australia or Terra Australis, which I have applied to the whole body of what has generally been called New Holland, must be submitted to the approbation of
900-552: A microfiche copy of Flinders Y46/1. In 2001–2002 the Mitchell Library Sydney displayed Y46/1 at their "Matthew Flinders – The Ultimate Voyage" exhibition. Paul Brunton called Y46/1 "the memorial of the great naval explorer Matthew Flinders". The first hard-copy of Y46/1 and its cartouche was retrieved from the UK Hydrographic Office ( Taunton, Somerset ) by historian Bill Fairbanks in 2004. On 2 April 2004, copies of
1000-572: A month exploring the area. The local Aboriginal people initially indicated that Flinders' group should "return from whence they came", but relations improved to the point where one resident participated in musket-drill with the ship's marines . In nearby Oyster Harbour , Flinders found a copper plate that Captain Christopher Dixson, on Elligood , had left the year before. While approaching Port Lincoln , which Flinders named after his home county of Lincolnshire , eight of his crew were lost when
1100-610: A naval skirmish with armed local men in a flotilla of sailing canoes, which resulted in the death of several Islanders and one crewman. The expedition arrived in Jamaica in February 1793, offloading the breadfruit plants, and then returned to England, with Flinders disembarking in London in August 1793 after more than two years at sea. In September 1793, Flinders re-joined HMS Bellerophon under
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#17328516204241200-560: A point 2 miles (3.2 km) west of that ( 27°15′46″S 153°04′45″E / 27.2628°S 153.0792°E / -27.2628; 153.0792 ( Clontarf Point ) ) as "Redcliffe" (on account of its red cliffs). That point is now known as Clontarf Point , while the name "Redcliffe" is used by the town of Redcliffe to the north. He landed on Coochiemudlo Island ( 27°34′13″S 153°19′59″E / 27.5703°S 153.3331°E / -27.5703; 153.3331 ( Coochiemudlo Island ) ) on 19 July while he
1300-453: A reproduction of the portfolio. Flinders' map of Terra Australis or Australia (so the two parts of the double name of his 1804 manuscript reversed) was first published in January 1814 and the remaining maps were published before his atlas and book. Flinders died, aged 40, on 19 July 1814 from kidney disease , at his London home at 14 London Street, later renamed Maple Street and now the site of
1400-508: A station platform. The Gardens were closed to the public in 2017 for work on the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project which requires the expansion of Euston station. The grave was located in January 2019 by archaeologists. His coffin was identified by its well-preserved lead coffin plate . Film of the discovery and the exhumation was shown in a documentary on British television in September 2020. It
1500-500: A supply [of meat], I named this southern land Kangaroo Island ." The seals on the island proved less docile, with a crew member receiving a severe bite from one. On 8 April 1802, while sailing east, Flinders sighted Géographe , a French corvette commanded by the explorer Nicolas Baudin , who was on a similar expedition for his government. Both men of science, Flinders and Baudin exchanged details of their discoveries, despite believing that their countries were at war. Flinders named
1600-520: A unique culture and long-standing history with the islands and nearby coastlines. Their maritime-based trade and interactions with the Papuans to the north and the Australian Aboriginal communities have maintained a steady cultural diffusion among the three societal groups, dating back thousands of years. The first recorded European navigation of the strait was by Luís Vaz de Torres , a pilot who
1700-404: A unique indigenous culture which has drawn the interest of a range of anthropological, historical, archaeological and folklorist researchers. This includes an expedition from Cambridge University led by the early ethnographer Alfred Haddon in 1898, and the more contemporary regional work of Australian anthropologist Jeremy Beckett. Accounts of local Indigenous narrative traditions can be found in
1800-616: Is an important international sea lane, it is very shallow (water depth of 7 to 15 m; 23 to 49 ft), and the maze of reefs and islands can make it hazardous to navigate. In the south the Endeavour Strait is located between Prince of Wales Island (Muralug) and the mainland. Shipping enters Torres Strait via the Adolphus Channel , which joins to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon to the southeast. Strong tidal currents occur in
1900-440: Is necessary, however, to geographical precision that the whole of this great body of land should be distinguished by one general term, and under the circumstances of the discovery of the different parts, the original Terra Australis has been judged the most proper. Of this term, therefore, we shall hereafter make use when speaking of New Holland and New South Wales in a collective sense; and when using it in an extensive signification,
2000-613: Is now spelt Zenadh Kes. Due to proximity to the Papua New Guinea mainland, the northern Torres Strait islands experience occasional asylum seeker arrivals from across the Strait. A total of ten asylum seekers from Papua New Guinea were detected in each of 2012 and 2013. The strait links the Coral Sea to the east with the Arafura Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria in the west. Although it
2100-610: Is on board the Investigator, and that you have some thought of carrying her to sea with you. This I was very sorry to hear, and if that is the case I beg to give you my advice by no means to adventure to measures so contrary to the regulations and the discipline of the Navy; for I am convinced by language I have heard, that their Lordships will, if they hear of her being in New South Wales, immediately order you to be superseded, whatever may be
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#17328516204242200-581: Is the traditional language owned by the Western and Central islands of the Torres Strait. The Kala Lagaw Ya language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Torres Shire Council . Mabuiag is considered a dialect of Kala Lagaw Ya, one of the languages of the Torres Strait. Mabuiag (also written as Mabuyag) is a traditional language of Mabuiag , a Central Western island of
2300-477: The BT Tower . This was on the day after the book and atlas was published; Flinders never saw the completed work (as he was unconscious by that time), but his wife arranged the volumes on his bed covers so that he could touch them. On 23 July, he was interred in the burial ground of St James's Church, Piccadilly , which was located some distance from the church, beside Hampstead Road , Camden , London. The burial ground
2400-534: The Coral Sea from Torres Strait, south-eastward to the southward of New Caledonia . Lihou saw Sir James Saumarez' Shoal (now Saumarez Reefs ) on 27 February and named the reef system after Vice-Admiral James Saumarez . On this same trip, Lihou discovered the Lihou Reef and Cays and Port Lihou (originally named Port Yarborough, on the southern shore of Prince of Wales Island ). The London Missionary Society arrived on Erub (Darnley Island) in 1871. Although some of
2500-622: The Great Barrier Reef , approximately 700 miles (1,100 km) north of Sydney. Flinders navigated the ship's cutter across open sea back to Sydney, and arranged for the rescue of the remaining marooned crew. Flinders then took command of the 29-ton schooner HMS Cumberland in order to return to England, but the poor condition of the vessel forced him to put in at French-controlled Isle de France (now known as Mauritius ) for repairs on 17 December 1803, just three months after Baudin had died there. War with France had broken out again
2600-509: The Great Barrier Reef . For Flinders, the collection of reefs served as a barrier to safe navigation, calling them Barrier Reefs in his 1814 book. The Lady Nelson was deemed too unseaworthy to continue, and Captain Murray sailed her back to Sydney with his crew and Nanbaree, who wanted to return home. Flinders exited the reefs near to the Whitsunday Islands and sailed Investigator north to
2700-690: The Melanesian island of New Guinea . It is 150 km (93 mi) wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula , the northernmost extremity of the Australian mainland. To the north is the Western Province of Papua New Guinea . It is named after the Spanish navigator Luís Vaz de Torres , who sailed through the strait in 1606. The islands of the Torres Strait have been inhabited by humans for at least 2,500 years and possibly much longer. The various Torres Strait Islander communities have
2800-476: The Pacific would later make possible James Cook 's expedition to Australia . Torres and his crew are not known to have sighted the Australian mainland visited just four months earlier by Willem Janszoon sailing Duyfken without conversely becoming aware of the strait now known as Torres Strait. No specific records exists of Torres sighting the coast of a major land mass to his south, and early Spanish maps show
2900-709: The Porpoise , arrival of the Cumberland at Mauritius, and imprisonment of the commander during six years and a half in that island . Original copies of the Atlas to Flinders' Voyage to Terra Australis are held at the Mitchell Library in Sydney as a portfolio that accompanied the book and included engravings of 16 maps, four plates of views and ten plates of Australian flora. The book was republished in three volumes in 1964, accompanied by
3000-647: The South Australian Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide and at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra . Arriving in Sydney on 9 June 1803, Investigator was judged to be unseaworthy and condemned. Unable to find another vessel suitable to continue his exploration, Flinders set sail for Britain as a passenger aboard HMS Porpoise . However, the ship was wrecked on Wreck Reefs , part of
3100-520: The Torres Strait . On 29 October, they arrived at Murray Island in the east of this strait, where they traded iron for shell necklaces with the local people . The expedition entered the Gulf of Carpentaria on 4 November and charted the coast to Arnhem Land . At Blue Mud Bay the crew, while collecting timber, had a skirmish with local Aboriginal men. One of the crew received four spear wounds while two of
Matthew Flinders - Misplaced Pages Continue
3200-581: The Torres Strait Islands . There are at least 274 of these islands, of which 17 have present-day permanent settlements. These islands have a variety of topographies , ecosystems and formation history. Several of those closest to the New Guinea coastline are low-lying, formed by alluvial sedimentary deposits borne by the outflow of the local rivers into the sea. Many of the western islands are hilly and steep, formed mainly of granite , and are peaks of
3300-512: The maritime border in the Torres Strait. In the 1980s, Torres Strait Island people wanted to create a name for the islands which related to their culture. Initially the name "Magani Malu Kes" was suggested for the region, but later adopting the acronym "Zenadh Kes", to refer to the Torres Strait. The acronym "ZENADTH KES" was first derived from 'Zey' (south), 'Naygay' (north), 'Dagam' (place/side), 'Thawathaw' (coastline) and KES (passage/channel/waterway). However, this has become modified and it
3400-506: The Aboriginal men were shot dead. At nearby Caledon Bay , Flinders took a 14-year-old boy named Woga captive in order to coerce the local people to return a stolen axe. Although the axe was not returned, Flinders released the boy who had spent a day tied to a tree. On 17 February 1803, near Cape Wilberforce, the expedition encountered a Makassan trepanging fleet captained by a man called Pobasso , from whom Flinders obtained information about
3500-690: The Admiralty and the learned in geography. It seems to me an inconsistent thing that captain Cooks New South Wales should be absorbed in the New Holland of the Dutch, and therefore I have reverted to the original name Terra Australis or the Great South Land, by which it was distinguished even by the Dutch during the 17th century; for it appears that it was not until some time after Tasman's second voyage that
3600-657: The Church of St Mary and the Holy Rood in Donington. On 17 October 2019 HS2 Ltd announced that Flinders' remains could be reinterred in the church in Donington, where he was baptised. Permission was given by the Diocese of Lincoln for reburial in the north aisle. His remains were reburied there on 13 July 2024. The coffin used for his reburial is a replica of the one he was originally buried in. Based on historical and archaeological evidence, it
3700-625: The South Pacific Ocean in 1770–1771, which aroused widespread interest in his claim of the existence of an unknown continent. It was Dalrymple who named the strait after Torres. Dalrymple was bitterly disappointed that it was James Cook and not he who was appointed commander of the expedition that eventually led in 1770 to the British encounter and charting of the eastern coastline of Australia. In 1770 Lieutenant James Cook rounded Cape York, turned south-west and landed on Possession Island . From
3800-516: The Southern Continent , published in John Campbell's editions of John Harris's Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca, or Voyages and Travels (1744–48, and 1764). Banks said in the draft: It was not until after Tasman's second voyage, in 1644, that the general name Terra Australis, or Great South Land, was made to give place to the new term of New Holland; and it was then applied only to
3900-470: The Torres Strait islands lie just off the coast of New Guinea, they were annexed in 1879 by colony of Queensland , then a British colony. There was an important pearling industry from the 1860s until about 1970 when it collapsed in the face of competition from the plastics industry. Pearl-shelling was responsible for the arrival of experienced divers from many countries, notably Japan . In 1978 an agreement between Australia and Papua New Guinea determined
4000-504: The Torres Strait. The Mabuiag language region includes the island landscape of Mabuiag within the local government boundaries of the Torres Shire Council and Mabuiag Island Council. In the 2016 Australian census , the population of the islands was recorded as 4,514 on the Islands, but many more Torres Strait Islander people live outside of Torres Strait in Australia. The two routes through
4100-494: The adjacent isles, including that of Van Diemen, must be understood to be comprehended. Although Thévenot said that he had taken his chart from the one inlaid into the floor of the Amsterdam Town Hall, in fact it appears to be an almost exact copy of that of Joan Blaeu in his Archipelagus Orientalis sive Asiaticus published in 1659. It seems to have been Thévenot who introduced a differentiation between Nova Hollandia to
Matthew Flinders - Misplaced Pages Continue
4200-693: The age of fifteen, he joined the Royal Navy . Under the patronage of Captain Thomas Pasley , Flinders was initially assigned to HMS Alert as a servant, but was soon transferred as an able-seaman to HMS Scipio , and then in July 1790 was made midshipman on HMS Bellerophon . In May 1791, on Pasley's recommendation, Flinders joined Captain William Bligh 's expedition on HMS Providence transporting breadfruit from Tahiti to Jamaica . It
4300-541: The attention of many of the scientists of the day, in particular the influential Sir Joseph Banks , to whom Flinders dedicated his Observations on the Coasts of Van Diemen's Land, on Bass's Strait, etc. . Banks used his influence with Earl Spencer to convince the Admiralty of the importance of an expedition to chart the coastline of New Holland. As a result, in January 1801, Flinders was given command of HMS Investigator ,
4400-511: The barricading of the quarter-deck." Both Pasley and Flinders survived, with Flinders deciding to pursue a preference for exploratory rather than military naval commissions. Flinders' desire for adventure led him to enlist as a midshipman aboard HMS Reliance in 1795. This vessel was headed to New South Wales carrying the recently appointed governor of that British colony, Captain John Hunter . On this voyage Flinders became friends with
4500-688: The basis of the publication Myths and Legends of Torres Strait (1970) and Tales from Torres Strait (1972). Her collection is now held by the State Library of Queensland and in 2008 it was added to UNESCO 's Australian Memory of the World Register . Two indigenous languages are spoken on the Torres Strait Islands: Kala Lagaw Ya (also known by variant names and spellings), and Meriam Mir (Meriam), as well as Brokan [Broken], otherwise called Torres Strait Creole . Kala Lagaw Ya
4600-430: The bay in which they met Encounter Bay . Proceeding along the coast, Flinders explored Port Phillip (the site of the future city of Melbourne ), which, unknown to him, had been explored only ten weeks earlier by John Murray aboard HMS Lady Nelson . Flinders scaled Arthur's Seat , the highest point near the shores of the southernmost parts of the bay, and wrote that the land had "a pleasing and, in many parts,
4700-513: The chart were presented by three of Matthew Flinders's descendants to the Governor of New South Wales, in London, to be presented in turn to the people of Australia through their parliaments by 14 November, the 200th anniversary of the chart leaving Mauritius. This celebration marked the first time the naming of Australia was formally recognised. Flinders was not the first to use the word "Australia" , nor
4800-634: The coast of New Guinea correctly but omit Australia. In 1769 the Scottish geographer Alexander Dalrymple , whilst translating some Spanish documents captured in the Philippines in 1762, had found Luís Vaz de Torres's testimony proving a passage south of New Guinea now known as Torres Strait. This discovery led Dalrymple to publish the Historical Collection of the Several Voyages and Discoveries in
4900-498: The coast of what would later be called Queensland . They soon anchored at Sandy Cape where, with Bungaree acting as a mediator, they feasted on porpoise blubber with a group of Batjala people. In early August, Flinders sailed into a bay he named Port Curtis . Here the local people threw stones at them as they attempted to land. Flinders ordered muskets be fired above their heads to disperse them. The expedition continued north but navigation became increasingly difficult as they entered
5000-719: The command of Captain Pasley. In 1794, Flinders served on this vessel during the battle known as the Glorious First of June , the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars . Flinders wrote a detailed journal of this intense battle including how Captain Pasley "lost his leg by an 18-pound shot, which came through
5100-406: The commercial and traditional fisheries resources. The Treaty established a Torres Strait Protected Zone within which both nations manage access to fisheries resources. Each country exercises sovereign jurisdiction for resources on either side of the agreed jurisdiction lines. Environmental issues facing the region include the risk of mining waste from the Fly River in southern Papua New Guinea and
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#17328516204245200-438: The consequences, and in all likelihood order Mr. Grant to finish the survey. As a result, Ann was obliged to stay in England and would not see her husband for nine years, following his imprisonment on the Isle de France (Mauritius, at the time a French possession) on his return journey. When they finally reunited, Matthew and Ann had one daughter, Anne (1 April 1812 – 1892), who later married William Petrie (1821–1908). In 1853,
5300-462: The ear" than previous names such as Terra Australis . Flinders was involved in several voyages of discovery between 1791 and 1803, the most famous of which are the circumnavigation of Australia and an earlier expedition when he and George Bass confirmed that Van Diemen's Land was an island. While returning to Britain in 1803, Flinders was arrested by the French at the colony of Isle de France . Although Britain and France were at war, Flinders thought
5400-434: The expedition to the northern coast of Australia. Bungaree , an Aboriginal man who had accompanied him on his earlier coastal survey in 1799, joined the expedition as did another local Aboriginal man named Nanbaree . It was arranged that Captain John Murray and his vessel the Lady Nelson would accompany the Investigator as a supply ship on this voyage. Flinders set sail again on 22 July 1802, heading north and surveying
5500-417: The first map of the landmass he had charted (Y46/1) back to England. This was the only map made by Flinders where he used the name "Australia or Terra Australis" for the title instead of New Holland the name of the continent that James Cook had used in 1770 and Abel Tasman had coined a Dutch version of in 1644, and the first known time he used the word Australia. He used the name New Holland on his map only for
5600-470: The geographical importance of this country, and of its situation on the globe: it has antiquity to recommend it; and, having no reference to either of the two claiming nations, appears to be less objectionable than any other which could have been selected. ...with the accompanying note at the bottom of the page: Captain (Royal Navy) Captain ( Capt ) is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy . It ranks above commander and below commodore and has
5700-593: The governments of New South Wales and Victoria bequeathed a belated pension to her (deceased) mother of £100 per year, to go to surviving issue of the union. This she accepted on behalf of her young son, William Matthew Flinders Petrie , who would go on to become an accomplished archaeologist and Egyptologist . Flinders' map Y46/1 was never "lost". It had been stored and recorded by the UK Hydrographic Office before 1828. Geoffrey C. Ingleton mentioned Y46/1 in his book Matthew Flinders Navigator and Chartmaker on page 438. By 1987 every library in Australia had access to
5800-477: The mainland); it is now called the Pumicestone Passage . Most of the meetings between the Aboriginal people of Moreton Bay and Flinders were of a friendly nature, but on 15 July at the southern tip of Bribie Island, a spear was thrown which resulted in a local man being wounded by gunfire. Flinders named the place where this occurred Point Skirmish. While anchored in Pumicestone, Flinders ventured several kilometres overland with three crew including Bungaree and climbed
5900-415: The matter to the French government; this was delayed not only by the long voyage but also by the general confusion of war. Eventually, on 11 March 1806, Napoleon gave his approval, but Decaen still refused to allow Flinders' release. By this stage Decaen believed Flinders' knowledge of the island's defences would have encouraged Britain to attempt to capture it. Nevertheless, in June 1809 the Royal Navy began
6000-437: The mountain Beerburrum . They turned back after meeting the steep cliffs of Mount Tibrogargan on about 26 July. Exiting Moreton Bay, Flinders continued north exploring as far as Hervey Bay before returning south. They arrived back in Sydney on 20 August 1799. In March 1800, Flinders rejoined Reliance and returned to Britain. During the voyage, the Antipodes Islands were discovered and charted. Flinders' work had come to
6100-568: The name New Holland was first applied, and then it was long before it displaced T’Zuydt Landt in the charts, and could not extend to what was not yet known to have existence; New South Wales, therefore, ought to remain distinct from New Holland; but as it is requisite that the whole body should have one general name, since it is now known (if there is no great error in the Dutch part) that it is certainly all one land, so I judge, that one less exceptionable to all parties and on all accounts cannot be found than that now applied. Flinders continued to promote
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#17328516204246200-403: The narrow channels between islands and reefs, and large submarine sand dunes migrate across the seafloor. Some 580 coral reefs, including the Warrior Reefs and Eastern Patch Reefs, cover a total area of 2,400 km (930 sq mi) in the region, and the area also has some of the most extensive seagrass beds in the world. Several clusters of islands lie in the Strait, collectively called
6300-440: The northernmost extension of the Great Dividing Range . They became islands as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age . The central islands are predominantly coral cays , and those of the east are of volcanic origins. There are several major policy and institutional frameworks in the Torres Strait region that support the sustainable use and management of marine resources while also protecting habitats, biodiversity and
6400-420: The parts lying westward of a meridian line, passing through Arnhem's Land on the north, and near the Isles St Peter and St Francis on the south: All to the eastward, including the shores of the Gulph of Carpentaria, still remained Terra Australis. This appears from a chart by Thevenot in 1663, which he says "was originally taken from that done in inlaid work upon the pavement of the new Stadt House at Amsterdam". It
6500-408: The previous May, but Flinders hoped his French passport (despite its being issued for Investigator and not Cumberland ) and the scientific nature of his mission would allow him to continue on his way. Despite this, and the knowledge of Baudin's earlier encounter with Flinders, the French governor, Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen , detained Flinders. The relationship between the men soured: Flinders
6600-400: The rank of captain and above wear gold-laced trousers (the trousers are known as "tin trousers", and the gold lace stripes thereon are nicknamed "lightning conductors"), and may wear the undress tailcoat (without epaulettes). Torres Strait The Torres Strait ( / ˈ t ɒr ɪ s / ), also known as Zenadh Kes ( pronounced [ˈzen̪ad̪ kes] ), is a strait between Australia and
6700-419: The region but neither were conclusive as to the existence of a strait. Flinders, with Bass and several crewmen, sailed the Norfolk along the uncharted northern and western coasts of Van Diemen's Land, rounded Cape Pillar and returned to Furneaux's Islands. By doing so, Flinders had completed the circumnavigation of Van Diemen's Land and confirmed the presence of a strait between it and the mainland. The passage
6800-504: The region. During this part of the voyage, much of the Investigator was discovered to be rotten, and Flinders made the decision to complete the circumnavigation of the continent without any further close surveying of the coast. He sailed to Sydney via Timor and the western and southern coasts of Australia. On the way, Flinders jettisoned two wrought-iron anchors which were found by divers in 1973 at Middle Island , Recherche Archipelago , Western Australia . The anchors are on display at
6900-439: The return to Sydney, they had to seek shelter at Wattamolla and also explored some of Port Hacking (Deeban) . In 1798, Flinders, by then a lieutenant , was given command of the sloop Norfolk with orders "to sail beyond Furneaux's Islands , and, should a strait be found, pass through it, and return by the south end of Van Diemen's Land ". Flinders and Bass had, in the months previously, both made separate journeys exploring
7000-437: The rules, but the Admiralty learned of his plans and reprimanded him for his bad judgement, and ordered him to remove her from the ship. This is well documented in correspondence between Flinders and his chief benefactor, Sir Joseph Banks , in May 1801: I have but time to tell you that the news of your marriage, which was published in the Lincoln paper, has reached me. The Lords of the Admiralty have heard also that Mrs. Flinders
7100-445: The sailing cutter, in which they were attempting to return to the ship after an expedition to the mainland, capsized. Flinders named nearby Memory Cove in their honour. On 21 March 1802, the expedition reached a large island where many kangaroos were sighted. Flinders and some crew went ashore and found the animals so tame they could walk right up to them. They killed 31 kangaroos with Flinders writing that "in gratitude for so seasonable
7200-484: The scientific nature of his work would ensure safe passage, but he remained under arrest for more than six years. In captivity, he recorded details of his voyages for future publication, and put forward his rationale for naming the new continent 'Australia', as an umbrella term for New Holland and New South Wales – a suggestion taken up later by Governor Macquarie . Flinders' health had suffered, however, and although he returned to Britain in 1810, he did not live to see
7300-508: The ship's surgeon George Bass who was three years his senior and had been born at Aswarby , just 11 miles (18 km) from Donington. HMS Reliance arrived in Port Jackson in September 1795, and Bass and Flinders soon organised an expedition in a small open boat named Tom Thumb , in which they sailed with a boy, William Martin, to Botany Bay and up the Georges River . In March 1796,
7400-542: The sloop Norfolk was assigned to him. Bass had returned to Britain by that time and, in his place, Flinders recruited his brother Samuel Flinders and was also accompanied on the voyage by a Kuringgai man named Bungaree . They departed on 8 July 1799 and arrived in Moreton Bay six days later. Flinders rowed ashore at Woody Point ( 27°15′48″S 153°06′14″E / 27.2632°S 153.1039°E / -27.2632; 153.1039 ( Woody Point ) ) and named
7500-455: The success of his widely praised book and atlas, A Voyage to Terra Australis . The location of his grave had been lost by the mid-19th century, but archaeologists, excavating a former burial ground near London's Euston railway station for the High Speed 2 rail project, announced in January 2019 that his remains had been identified. On 13 July 2024, he was reburied in Donington, Lincolnshire ,
7600-483: The sustainable management of natural resources. The islands' indigenous inhabitants are the Torres Strait Islanders , one of two ethnically distinct groups of Indigenous Australian peoples. Torres Strait Islanders are distinct from both the Papuans of adjoining New Guinea and from Aboriginal Australian peoples of the nearby Australian mainland, but related to both. The people of the Torres Strait have
7700-510: The title of a seagoing commanding officer. In the Ministry of Defence , and in joint service establishments, a captain may be referred to as a "DACOS" (standing for deputy assistant chief of staff) or an "AH" (assistant head), from the usual job title of OF5-ranked individuals who work with civil servants. The rank insignia features four rings of gold braid with an executive curl in the upper ring. When in mess dress or mess undress, officers of
7800-592: The top of a hill, he signalled down to the ship that he could see a navigable passage through the dangerous Strait. Later in Batavia , where he learnt that the French had preceded him across the Pacific , Cook re-wrote this signalling drill as a possession ceremony, saying he had claimed Australia's east coast for the British Crown. In 1823 Captain John Lihou, Master of the 550-ton merchant ship Zenobia of Calcutta ,
7900-466: The traditional islander way of life. Most important of these is the Torres Strait Treaty, entered into by Australia and Papua New Guinea in February 1985. The Treaty defines sovereignty and maritime boundaries in the area between the two countries. It guides decision makers on protecting the way of life and livelihood of traditional inhabitants, on managing the protection of habitats, and on sharing
8000-439: The two explorers, again with William Martin, set out on another voyage in a larger boat, dubbed Tom Thumb II . They sailed south from Port Jackson but were soon forced to beach at Red Point (Port Kembla) . There, they accepted the help of two Aboriginal men who piloted the boat to the entrance of Lake Illawarra , where they were able to dry their gunpowder and obtain supplies of water from another group of Aboriginal people. During
8100-505: The use of the word until his arrival in London in 1810. Here he found that Banks did not approve of the name and had not unpacked the chart he had sent him, and that "New Holland" and "Terra Australis" were still in general use. As a result, a book by Flinders was published under the title A Voyage to Terra Australis and his published map of 1814 also shows 'Terra Australis' as the first of the two name options, despite his objections. The final proofs were brought to him on his deathbed, but he
8200-566: The village of his birth. Matthew Flinders was born in Donington, Lincolnshire, the son of Matthew Flinders, a surgeon, and his wife Susannah ( née Ward). He was educated at Cowley's Charity School , Donington, from 1780 and then at the Reverend John Shinglar's Grammar School at Horbling in Lincolnshire. In his own words, he was "induced to go to sea against the wishes of my friends from reading Robinson Crusoe ", and in 1789, at
8300-440: The west and Terre Australe to the east of the meridian corresponding to 135° East of Greenwich, emphasised by the latitude staff running down that meridian, as there is no such division on Blaeu's map. In his Voyage , Flinders wrote: There is no probability, that any other detached body of land, of nearly equal extent, will ever be found in a more southern latitude; the name Terra Australis will, therefore, remain descriptive of
8400-600: The western part of the continent. Due to the delay caused by his lengthy confinement, the first published map of the Australian continent was the Freycinet Map of 1811 , a product of the Baudin expedition, issued in 1811. Flinders finally returned to England in October 1810. He was in poor health but immediately resumed work preparing A Voyage to Terra Australis and his atlas of maps for publication. The full title of this book, which
8500-453: The work of Nonie Sharp and Margaret Lawrie . Lawrie developed strong relationships with the people of the Torres Strait from the 1950s to 1970s, and many approached her to record and write down their personal stories and family histories. This resulted in her conducting research into the cultural history of the Torres Strait and collecting transcripts, audio recordings, photographs, slides, works of art and oral stories . Collectively they formed
8600-433: Was Bligh's second "Breadfruit Voyage", following his ill-fated voyage on HMS Bounty . The expedition sailed via the Cape of Good Hope and, in February 1792, they arrived at Adventure Bay on the eastern coast of Bruny Island off the south-eastern coast of the island now known as Tasmania . The officers and crew spent over a week in the region obtaining water and lumber, and interacting with local Aboriginal people . It
8700-577: Was Flinders' first association with any of the land which is now part of the Commonwealth of Australia . After the expedition arrived in Tahiti in April 1792, obtaining the many breadfruit plants to take to Jamaica, they sailed back west. Instead of travelling via Adventure Bay, Bligh navigated to the north of the Australian continent, sailing through the Torres Strait . There, off Zagai Island, they were involved in
8800-502: Was a 'modest contingent of scientific gentlemen', which reflects 'British parsimony' in scientific endeavour. The future explorer John Franklin , Flinders' cousin by marriage, served as midshipman. Aboard Investigator , Flinders reached and named Cape Leeuwin on 6 December 1801, and proceeded to make a survey along the southern coast of the Australian mainland. The expedition soon anchored in King George Sound and stayed there for
8900-600: Was affronted at his treatment, and Decaen insulted by Flinders' refusal of an invitation to dine with him and his wife. Decaen was suspicious of the alleged scientific mission as the Cumberland carried no scientists and Decaen's search of Flinders' vessel uncovered a trunk full of papers (including despatches from the New South Wales Governor Philip Gidley King ) that were not permitted under his scientific passport. Furthermore, one of King's despatches
9000-522: Was first published in London in July 1814, was given, as was common at the time, a synoptic description: A Voyage to Terra Australis: undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802, and 1803 in His Majesty's ship the Investigator, and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland Schooner. With an account of the shipwreck of
9100-517: Was he the first to apply the name specifically to the continent. He owned a copy of Alexander Dalrymple 's 1771 book An Historical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean , and it seems likely he borrowed it from there, but he applied it specifically to the continent, not the whole South Pacific region. In 1804 he wrote to his brother: "I call the whole island Australia, or Terra Australis". Later that year, he wrote to Sir Joseph Banks and mentioned "my general chart of Australia",
9200-429: Was in use from 1790 until 1853. By 1852, the location of the grave had been forgotten due to alterations to the burial ground. In 1878, the cemetery became St James's Gardens, Camden, with only a few gravestones lining the edges of the park. Part of the gardens, located between Hampstead Road and Euston railway station , was built over when Euston station was expanded, and Flinders' grave was thought to possibly lie under
9300-491: Was made by one of the archaeologists who excavated his grave in 2019. The church displayed a recently discovered portrait, apparently of Flinders in his last years, attributed to Investigator artist William Westall. On 17 April 1801, Flinders married his longstanding friend Ann Chappelle (1772–1852) and had hoped to take her with him to Port Jackson. However, the Admiralty had strict rules against wives accompanying captains. Flinders brought Ann on board ship and planned to ignore
9400-459: Was named Bass Strait after his close friend, and the largest island in the strait would later be named Flinders Island in his honour. During the voyage, Flinders and Bass rowed the ship's dinghy for some miles up the River Derwent , where they had their only encounter with Aboriginal Tasmanians . In 1799, Flinders' request to explore the coast north of Port Jackson was granted and, once more,
9500-466: Was on passage from Manila to South America and chose a route through Torres Strait. Remarkably, this would become the first time for a ship to be navigated through the Torres Strait from west to east. According to the Sydney Gazette of April 1823: "This essay of nautical skill was accomplished after the loss of four anchors and the rudder". It was also the first occasion a ship was navigated through
9600-482: Was proposed to re-bury his remains, at a site to be decided, after they had been examined by osteo-archaeologists . Following the discovery of his grave, the parish church of Donington, Lincolnshire , Flinders' birthplace, saw a surge of visitors. The Matthew Flinders Bring Him Home Group and the Britain–Australia Society , as well as Flinders' direct descendants, campaigned to have his remains interred at
9700-532: Was searching for a river in the southern part of Moreton Bay. In the northern part of Moreton Bay, Flinders explored a narrow waterway ( 27°04′14″S 153°08′34″E / 27.0705°S 153.1429°E / -27.0705; 153.1429 ( Entrance to the Pumicestone Passage at Moreton Bay ) ) which he named the Pumice Stone River (presumably unaware it separated Bribie Island and
9800-568: Was second-in-command on the Spanish expedition led by navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós who sailed from Peru to the South Pacific in 1605. After Queirós's ship returned to Mexico , Torres resumed the intended voyage to Manila via the Maluku Islands . He sailed along the south coast of New Guinea and discovered the strait that still bears his name. This discovery recorded in Spanish maps of
9900-640: Was specifically to the British Admiralty requesting more troops in case Decaen were to attack Port Jackson. Among the papers seized were the three logs of HMS Investigator of which only Volume one and Volume two were returned to Flinders; these are now both held by the State Library of New South Wales . The third volume was later deposited in the Admiralty Library and is now held in The National Archives (United Kingdom) . Decaen referred
10000-498: Was unconscious. The book was published on 18 July 1814, but Flinders did not regain consciousness and died the next day, never knowing that his name for the continent would be accepted. Banks wrote a draft of an introduction to Flinders' Voyage , referring to the map published by Melchisédech Thévenot in Relations des Divers Voyages (1663), and made well known to English readers by Emanuel Bowen 's adaptation of it, A Complete Map of
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