PowerPoint Presentation

1Welcome

HMS Investigator2

IntroductionCaptain of the shipEarly lifeCommander of the InvestigatorFamily lifeExplorationAttempt to returnTrimBooksLegacyAmazing facts

Contents3

CaptainMatthew FlindersRN(16 March 1774 19 July 1814) was a distinguished navigator and cartographer.

Flinders made three voyages to the southern ocean (August 1791 August 1793, February 1795 August 1800 and July 1801 October 1810).

He made lots of voyageswith George Bass and made very important discoveries.

Introduction 4

5Matthew FlindersBorn16 March 1774Donington, Lincolnshire,EnglandDied19 July 1814(aged40)London, EnglandOccupationRoyal Navy Ships OfficerSpouse(s)Ann Chappelle(m.1801;his death1814)ChildrenAnne

Captain of the ship

Early lifeFlinders was born inDonington, Lincolnshire,England, the son of Matthew Flinders, a surgeon, and his wife Susannah

Initially serving onHMSAlert, he transferred toHMSScipio, and in July 1790 was mademidshipmanonHMSBellerophonunderCaptain Pasley. By Pasley's recommendation

Flinders' first voyage to New South Wales, and first trip toPort Jackson, was in 1795 as a midshipman aboardHMSReliance, carrying the newly appointedGovernor of New South WalesCaptain John Hunter

And became friends with the ship's surgeonGeorge Basswho was three years his senior and had been born 11 miles (18km) from Donington.

Not long after their arrival inPort Jackson, Bass and Flinders made two expeditions in small open boats, both namedTom Thumb: the first toBotany BayandGeorges River, the second, in a largerTom Thumb, south from Port Jackson toLake Illawarra.

6Cont..

6

7Cont..

Memorial atFlinders, Victoria commemorating the discovery of Western Porton 4 January 1798, by George Bass and the later passage of Bass Straitby Bass and Flinders in the same year.

The passage between the Australian mainland and Tasmania enabled savings of several days on the journey from England, and was namedBass Strait.

Commander of the Investigatorin January 1801, Flinders was given command of theInvestigator, a 334-ton sloop, and promoted toCommanderthe following month.

TheInvestigatorset sail for New Holland on 18 July 1801. Attached to the expedition was thebotanistRobert Brown,botanical artistFerdinand Bauerand landscape artistWilliam Westall.

Due to the scientific nature of the expedition, Flinders was issued with a French passport, despite England and France thenbeing at war.8

Family lifeOn 17 April 1801, Flinders had married longtime friend Ann Chappelle(17721852).

Ann was obliged to stay in England and would not see her husband for nine years.

Matthew and Ann had one daughter, Anne, born 1 April 1812, who later married William Petrie (18211908) and was the mother of the eminent archaeologist and Egyptologist,William Matthew Flinders Petrie.

9

10Exploration of the Australian coastal line

On 8 April 1802, while sailing east, Flinders sighted theGographe, a French corvette commanded by the explorerNicolas Baudin,

who was on a similarexpeditionfor his government.

Both men ofscience, Flinders and Baudin met and exchanged details of their discoveries, Flinders named the bayEncounter Bay.

Proceeding along the coast Flinders exploredPort Phillip, which unbeknownst to him had been discovered only 10 weeks earlier byJohn Murrayaboard theLady Nelson

Cont..

11Cont..Flinders scaledArthur's Seat, the highest point near the shores of the southernmost parts of the bay, where the ship had entered throughThe Heads. From there he saw a vast view of the surrounding land and bays.

Having hastily prepared the ship, Flinders set sail again on 22 July, heading north and surveying the coast of Queensland. From there he passed through theTorres Strait, and explored theGulf of Carpentaria

On the way, Flinders jettisoned two wrought iron anchors, which were found by divers in 1973 at Middle Island,Recherche Archipelago,Western Australia

Arriving in Sydney on 9 June 1803, theInvestigatorwas subsequently judged to be unseaworthy and condemned.

12Attempt to return England and imprisonment Flinders set sail for England as a passenger aboardHMSPorpoise. However the ship was wrecked onWreck Reefs, part of the Great Barrier Reef, approximately 700 miles (1127km) north of Sydney.

Flinders then took command of the 29-ton schoonerCumberlandin order to return to England, but the poor condition of the vessel forced him to put in at French-controlledMauritiusfor repairs on 17 December 1803.

War with Francehad broken out again the previous May, but Flinders hoped his French passport (though for a different vessel) and the scientific nature of his mission would allow him to continue on his way.

Cont..

13Decaen believed Flinders' knowledge of the island's defenses would have encouraged Britain to attempt to capture it. Nevertheless, in June 1809 the Royal Navy began a blockade of the island, and in June 1810 Flinders wasparoled.

Travelling via theCape of Good HopeonOlympia, which was taking dispatches back to Britain, he received a promotion to Post-Captain, before continuing to England.

Cont..

In November 1804 he sent 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"(in all capitals) for the title, and the first known time he used the word "Australia.

14

15

16Trim

Trimwas aship's catthat accompaniedMatthew Flinderson his voyages to circumnavigate and map the coastline ofAustraliain 1801-03.Trim was born in 1799.

The kitten fell overboard, but managed to swim back to the vessel and climb aboard by scaling a rope; taking note of his strong survival instinct and intelligence, Flinders and the crew made him their favorite.Cont..

17Cont..

Trim sailed with Flinders onHMSInvestigatoron his voyage of circumnavigation around the Australian mainland, and survived the shipwreck of the PorpoiseonWreck Reefin 1803.

When Flinders was accused of spying and imprisoned by the French inMauritiuson his return voyage toEngland Trim shared his captivity until his unexplained disappearance, which Flinders attributed to his being stolen andeatenby hungry slaves.

In 1996 a bronze statue of Trim by sculptor John Cornwell was erected on a window ledge of theMitchell LibraryinSydney, directly behind a statue of his owner that was erected following the donation of Flinders' personal papers to the Library by his grandson in 1925.

Cont..

18Cont..

The popularity of the statue has since led to the development of a range of Trim merchandise by theState Library of New South Wales. The Library's cafe is also named after the cat.

The plaque under it says:

19Books written about Trim & Mathew Finders

20

21Legacy

Australia 10 Shillings 1961 1965 ND Banknote. Overs: Bust of FlindersStatue of Flinders outsideSt Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne

22Cont..Flinders' proposal for the use of iron bars to be used to compensate for the magnetic deviations caused by iron on board a ship resulted in them being known asFlinders bars.

Bass & Flinders Point in the southernmost part ofCronullain New South Wales features a monument to George Bass and Matthew Flinders, who explored thePort Hackingestuary.

23Amazing FactsAlthough he never once used his own name for any feature in all his discoveries, Flinders' name is now associated with over 100 geographical features and places in Australia in addition to Flinders Island, in Bass Strait.

Landmarks named after him in South Australia

In Victoria, eponymous places includeFlinders StreetinMelbourne, thesuburbofFlinders, thefederal electorate of Flinders, and theMatthew Flinders Girls Secondary CollegeinGeelong.

Australia holds a large collection of statues erected in Flinders' honor, second only in number to statues ofQueen Victoria.

In his native England the first statue of Flinders was erected on 16 March 2006 (his birthday) in his hometown of Donington. The statue also depicts his beloved cat Trim, who accompanied him on his voyages

Cont..

24