"I was induced to go to sea against the- 

 

Wait a minute, who said this quote? It was Matthew Flinders of course, the one who discovered the Bass Strait, the one that was the first to chart the first ever completed map of Australia, the one who brought a cat with him on a boat! Alright, I want to learn more, tell me about it. I'm afraid, this is going to be a long story so strap yourself in. 

 

Before we start, you must know where I got this information, you can't trust me just yet! I used a variety of different sources, all of which had the same information, I put them all into one pile and sorted through it. Finding the most valuable pieces. The first item I picked out was... *drum roll* Britannica! Britannica is a source most people use, it is reliable and almost never has mistakes! It is short and fast, with no more than 200 words (193 to be exact). The site I used afterwards is lesser known and is called 'The Australian Dictionary of Biography'. It definitely has a lot more text (1968 words), it might seem very intimidating when you see it but it is ordered in a helpful way. Let's say you are looking for the day Matthew Flinders died, you would go to the last paragraph and read through that. If you are looking for the day he was born, you would read the first paragraph (I think you have the idea). The text is written in a way that the start is the start of Matthew's life, and it progresses until the day he died and his legacy/change to society. 

 

What has Matthew Flinders done that made him so notable? Ah yes, I was just about to get to that. On 

the 16th of March, 1774 (Donington) he was born and at the age of 6, Flinders started school at Cowley's Charity School in Donington. He was inspired to go to sea after reading Robinson Crusoe. Matthew Flinders decided to travel on Captain William Bligh's Breadfruit Voyage. This was the first time he interacted with Australia although the continent was unknown and not many people knew what one-quarter of the land looked like. Years later, Matthew became a navigator and captained many ships, his most famous one being the H.M.S. Investigator (the ship that he circumnavigated Australia on). Matthew Flinders also discovered the Bass Strait, which he named after George Bass the ship's surgeon (a ship's doctor). 

 

On the way back to England, Flinders was captured and arrested by the French; whilst he was circumnavigating Australia, a war struck between France and England. The French thought he was a spy and let him out to return to his home after more than 6 years! Flinders didn't get all of his mapping correct, so after returning back to England, he sailed off to Australia to fix it up. He was the first to draw a detailed map of Australia and it took effort and lots of hard work. Some of his work was luck, but you can't live your life without luck. For example, he was lucky to have survived and lucky to have lived at the time he did. If he lived in the 21st century, there would be no need for a sailor/navigator because everything on Earth (on the surface) is photographed by satellites. Hard work is different to different people, you may count hard work as dedication, or you may perceive it as time consumption. No matter what you consider as hard work, Matthew Flinders applied himself to whatever he did. His travels took time, and navigating a boat with lots of people on a small, cramped space takes dedication. 

 

Now that I have an understanding of what he did, who was he? And what was his personality? Well Matthew Flinders definitely had a personality. He was humorous enough to take a cat on board his boat, and even more to write a book about him. In his book it explains a lot about his life and personality, because it was written by the one and only Matthew Flinders himself! He explains how demanding Trim is and how hilarious Trim is too. 'He would frequently place himself on the quarterdeck before the officers, in the middle of their walk; and spreading out his two white hands in the posture of the lion couchant, oblige then to stop and admire him. They would indeed say low to each other, "See the vanity of that cat!" But they could not help admiring his graceful form and beautiful white feet.'  - Book 'Trim', Page 6 – 7. Flinders can also be solemn at times and serious, breaking the party, but that is only when he is in a difficult situation. 

 

Now it is time for my personal reflection and how I believe I went during my research and writing pieces. I hope that I can look back at what I have done and know that I have done my absolute best, that is what is most important for me. I feel like I have done a job that I can be proud of. Terrific would be generous, but good would be basic and underrating. I do feel that I could have done my best, but then again, there is always room for improvement. Spelling for example, There have been several times I have had to correct my work with spelling. 

 

Wow, this has been a flat rollercoaster of emotions, not much was going on apart from information. I guess that's what I asked for. You summarised his life and a little bit more. I probably won't remember all of this information, but I will remember the experience. 

 

-wishes of my friends from reading Robinson Crusoe". 

​