Intro/Early-Life: 

Matthew Flinders is a British sailor and cartographer who circumnavigated Australia and mapped the coastline. Matthew Flinders was born on the 16th of March 1774, in a small-town call Donington (in the UK). 6 years later, Flinders starts school at Cowley’s Charity School in Donington; afterwards he moved to Reverend John Shinglar’s Grammar School in Horbling, Lincolnshire. After Flinders graduated school, he was greatly inspired to sail the seas, this ambition continued throughout his whole life.

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Early Career: 

At the age of fifteen, Flinders joined the royal navy. He joined the expedition from Tahiti to Jamaica, delivering breadfruit. The ship (under Captain William Bligh’s control) sailed south to collect breadfruit from Australia. Flinders was named commander in February 1799 and was chosen to command the H.M.S. Investigator. In 1797 now Captain Flinders sailed and circumnavigated Tasmania, a stepping stone for what was to come; what was soon to be his greatest achievements.

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Circumnavigating Terra Australis: 

In 1801 Flinders set sail for Australia once again from England, he planned to map the coastline, but this was a huge task that could take years. He brought along a cat with him named Trim, this cat had many books written about them and became famous years later. Matthew set sail on the 22nd of July 1802 to chart the coastline; he started in Sydney, specifically Port Jackson. He eventually got around to the southern part of the continent he made a discovery that changed Australia forever. Flinders discovered that there was a large body of water between Tasmania and Australia, he named it The Bass Straight, after the H.M.S. Investigator’s surgeon/doctor George Bass. On the 9th of June 1803 Flinders and his ship sailed back into Port Jackon, completing the first ever circumnavigation of Australia.

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Afterwards: 

Most of Matthew Flinders’ work was mapping or charting of the coastline of Australia, he sighted possible settlement spots, several shores, rivers, and the unknown coast of the continent. These settlement points were used as towns, but some are unused. Shortly after his arrival at Port Jackson, he decides to sail back to England, during his travel he is captured and arrested by the French Government in December 15th 1803. At the time Britain and France were at war, Matthew didn’t know this because he was at sea when the war started. The French thought he was a spy for the British and he stayed in prison for more than 6 years. After he is let go, he returns back home and presents his map and work to the government. Sadly, on the 19th of July 1814, Flinders dies to a kidney failure. 

  

Notability: 

Matthew Flinders was the first person to use the word “Australia”, and named the continent the same word on his voyage. He is notable for being the first to circumnavigate Australia and for mapping the whole coastline. There was still much more to be discovered in Australia, the desert for instance, and there were also some rough parts in his mapping.

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