MATTHEW FLINDERS
INTRODUCTION
On the sixteenth of March 1774, Matthew Flinders was born at Donington in Lincolnshire England. He joined the Royal Navy in 1789 aged fifteen. His wife's name was Susannah and they had a daughter named Anne but Matthew died when Anne was two. He travelled to Australia to explore the south coast.
This is a picture of Matthew Flinders
This is a picture of Nicholas Baudin
THE MEETING WITH NICHOLAS BAUDIN
Two centuries ago, on April the 8th 1802 two ships met in the waters of Encounter Bay, about 80km south of Adelaide. These two ships were called the Investigator which was Flinders' ship and the other ship was called the Geographe which was Nicholas Baudin's (he was a French explorer).
The two captains had two friendly meetings where they discussed their explorations. From there Baudin went west retracing the coast that Flinders had already charted. Flinders went onto sail towards the east coast.
This meeting of the two ships and their captains was the reason for the naming of Encounter Bay.
OCCUPATION
Matthew Flinders' occupation was sailing and exploring. He made several journeys to Australia before his big voyage on the Investigator he traveled on the H.M.S. Reliance to Sydney in 1795 and from there he went exploring in a small boat called Tom Thumb with George Bass. These two later went onto find that Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) was separate from the rest of Australia. They did this in 1797 whilst sailing on a ship called the Norfolk. All these discoveries lead up to Flinders most famous "Investigator" voyage.
WHAT HE DISCOVERED
These are the some of Matthew Flinders discoveries in and 1802.
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Lucky Bay- January 9th |
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St Francis Island- February 4th |
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St Peters Island- February 6th |
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Flinders Island- February 12th |
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Memory Cove- February 22nd |
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Encounter Bay- April 8th |
THE INVESTIGATOR'S VOYAGE
Matthew Flinders left England in 1801 on a ship called the Investigator. The main reason for this voyage was to explore the southern coast of Australia. In December 1801 he reached Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia. From there he began charting the south coast giving names to places on his way. One such place he named Cape Catastrophe where in February 1802 he lost eight of his crew in a small boat accident. He then sailed on mapping the south Australian coast meeting with the French explorer Nicholas Baudin at Encounter Bay in April 1802. From there he sailed up to Sydney and then onto the Great Barrier Reef in October. He studied the coral reefs and also discovered and mapped seventy islands. Flinders then continued around the Gulf of Carpentaria and then onto Timor to take on supplies (it was now 1803). From Timor he went back down around Western Australia along the southern coast back to Sydney. Matthew Flinders and his crew had now circumnavigated Australia in the Investigator.
On his way back to England he was captured and held prisoner on a French island of Mauritius for over six years until 1810 when he was set free. Now on his way home he was able to write a book called "A Voyage to Terra Australis". This book was about his voyage around Australia and included his detailed maps of the coast line. This book was published on the 19th of July 1814 (the day Matthew died). It is because of Matthew Flinders Australia now has its name.
©Copyright By Brodie C. 2002