Captain Matthew Flinders RN (16 March 1774 19 July 1814) was one of the most accomplished navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain  William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for  the continent, survived shipwreck and disaster only to be imprisoned as a spy,  identified and corrected the effect of iron components and equipment on board wooden ships upon compass readings, and wrote the seminal work on Australian exploration 'A Voyage To Terra Australis'.

Born in Donington, the young Matthew Flinders had his hunger for exploration and knowledge whetted by the tale of Robinson Crusoe, and at the age of fifteen he joined the Royal Navy, serving  under Captain Bligh on HMS Providence, transporting breadfruit from Tahiti to  Jamaica.

Later, Flinders sailed to Australia on HMS Reliance, establishing himself as a fine navigator and cartographer, and in 1796 explored the coastline around Sydney in a tiny open boat called Tom Thumb. In 1798 he  circumnavigated Tasmania, proving it to be an island. The passage between the  Australian mainland and Tasmania became known as Bass Strait after the ship's  doctor and close friend of his, George Bass, and a large island was named Flinders Island.

On 17 April 1801 Flinders married Ann Chappell, but was  soon forced to leave his new wife when the British Government sent him back to  Australia. He set out that July, in command of Investigator, to produce a  detailed survey of the coastline of Australia, the southern coast of which was  still unknown. Between December 1801 and June 1803, Flinders circumnavigated Australia, charting parts of the coastline including the Great Australian Bight and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Flinders was the first European explorer to  visit the You Yangs ranges near Geelong. On May 1, 1802, he and three of his men  climbed to the highest point and named it "Station Peak". This was later changed to Flinders Peak in his honour.

On 12 April 1812 they had a daughter who became Mrs. William Petrie; in 1853 the N.S.W. government of Australia  bequeathed a belated pension to her (deceased) mother of £100 per year, to go to  surviving issue of the union. This she, Mrs. Ann (Flinders) Petrie, accepted  on behalf of her young son, named William Matthew Flinders Petrie, the archaeologist and Egyptologist.

Exploration of the Australian  coastline

The British Admiralty sent him to explore the Great Australian Bight, among other places, in 1801. He set  out from England in July that year, in command of the Investigator. He reached Cape Leeuwin on 6 December and worked his way eastwards, reaching Fowlers Bay on  28 January, 1802

Matthew Flinders' voyages On 8 April 1802, while sailing east, Flinders met up with the French explorer Nicolas Baudin, who was sailing  west aboard Le Géographe. Both men had been sent by their governments on  separate expeditions to map the unknown southern coastline of Australia. Both  men of science, Flinders and Baudin met and exchanged details of their discoveries, and sailed together to Sydney to resupply. Flinders would later name the site of their meeting Encounter Bay.

The meeting at Encounter Bay by the two  expeditions marked the point at which the entire coastline of continental  Australia became mapped.

By June 1803, the hull of the Investigator had deteriorated to such a degree that Flinders was forced to abandon his survey of the northern coastline of Australia. He returned to Sydney by the west coast,  thus completing his circumnavigation of Australia.

Flinders set sail for  England aboard The Porpoise to secure another vessel from the British Government with which to complete his survey, but was shipwrecked on the Great Barrier  Reef. Remarkably, Flinders navigated the ship's cutter across open sea back to  Sydney, a distance of some 700 miles, and arranged for the rescue of the  marooned crew on Wreck Reef.

Flinders next attempted to return to England aboard the Cumberland, but the poor condition of the schooner forced it to put in at Mauritius for repairs on 17 December. Unbeknownst to Flinders, England was now at war with France again, and the French governor, General De Caen, had Flinders detained as a prisoner of war. His imprisonment was, in reality, due to misunderstandings and indignancies by both parties and lasted for almost seven  years.

Flinders finally returned to England in October 1810, where he immediately began work on preparing A Voyage to Terra Australis for publication. On 18 July 1814, the book was published. The next day, Matthew Flinders died, aged only 40.

Naming Australia

View of Port Jackson taken from South from A Voyage to Terra Australis.Flinders was not the first to use the word  "Australia". 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" and later that year he  wrote to Sir Joseph Banks and mentioned "my general chart of Australia." That 92cm x 72cm chart, made that year, was the first time the name Australia was  used on a map, a map he had began while imprisoned by the French in  Mauritius.

Flinders continued to promote 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, Flinders' 1814 book was published under the title A Voyage to Terra Australis despite his  objections.

In this book, however, Flinders wrote: "The name Terra Australis will remain descriptive of the geographical importance of this country... [but] had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term,  it would have been to convert it into Australia; as being more agreeable to the  ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the  earth."

Flinders' book was widely read and gave the term "Australia" general currency. Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales, became aware of Flinders' preference for the name Australia and used it in his dispatches to England. In 1817 he recommended that it be officially adopted. In 1824 the British Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as  Australia.

Legacy

Flinders name is now associated with many geographical features and  places in Australia in addition to Flinders Island, in Bass Strait. Flinders is  seen as being particularly important in South Australia, where he is often considered the main explorer of the state. Landmarks named after him in South  Australia include the Flinders mountain range and Flinders Ranges National Park, Flinders Chase National Park on Kangaroo Island, Flinders University, Flinders Medical Centre, the suburb Flinders Park and Flinders Street in Adelaide.

In Victoria, eponymous places include Flinders Street in Melbourne, the suburb of Flinders, the federal electorate of Flinders, and the  Matthew Flinders Girls' Secondary College in Geelong.

Flinders Bay in Western Australia and Flinders Street in Canberra  also commemorate him.

Australia holds a large collection of statues  erected in Flinders' honour, second only in number to statues of Queen 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.

Presentation to the People of Donington of the 1804 Map and Naming of Australia by Matthew Flinders

By Gill Lunn Chairman of Donington Parish  Council

The presentation of an 1804 map to Donington by Matthew Flinders,  was the culmination of a hectic week. I was contacted by way of investigation by a gentleman from Sydney, Australia called Bill Fairbanks, he wanted recognition  for the1804 map
on which Matthew Flinders named the land mass, formerly  called Terra Australis, as Australia. The earliest map before this was from an  1814. Mr Fairbanks had read of the existence of an earlier map in 2003, he did  some research and found this map of 1804 in The Hydrographic Office in Taunton, Somerset, he came to England in 2004 to look at this original map, which has to remain there. As the copyright is no longer held on it, he produced several  copies. Matthew Flinders mapped part of the southern coast of Australia, he  circumnavigated the whole Continent. Along with George Bass, he discovered Tasmania was not part of the main land mass as previously thought, that  discovery, now called the Bass Strait, enabled ships to pass between the southern coast and the northern tip of Tasmania, shortening the time voyages  would take. Matthew Flinders was captured by the French in 1803, there he  produced the 1804 map, sending it to the Admiralty in 1805 London, where it  stayed, forgotten, until his release in 1810, it was published in 1814.

MATTHEW FLINDERS STATUE UNVEILING - THURSDAY 16^TH MARCH 2006

A very warm  welcome greeted the arrival of Doningtons newest resident when the life size bronze statue of Matthew Flinders was unveiled by Martha & Rachel Flinders Lewis (great, great, great granddaughters) in front of a large appreciative  crowd.

Though the weather was cloudy & cold, the rain held off until after all the speakers in the Market Place had finished. Following a welcome speech delivered by Councillor Amanda Puttick there was an address by Captain Paul Folkes RAN, Naval  Advisor at the Australian High Commission in London. Then four pupils from the  Thomas Cowley High School spoke about their experiences of working with the  sculptor Judith Holmes-Drewry making the four bronze tablets that now lie  embedded around the statue. Following the unveiling, both Martha & Rachel  said a few words before a celebratory balloon release marked the end of  proceedings in the Market Place.

A buffet lunch was held at the Thomas Cowley High School afterwards where descendants of Matthew Flinders, who had travelled from afar to attend the ceremony, were able  to meet in an informal setting with representatives of Lincolnshire County  Council, Fens Tourism & IDEA who put together the commission for the statue, with Judith Holmes-Drewry the sculptor & others from Le Blanc Fine Arts studio, with representatives from the Lincoln branch of the Britain-Australia Society, with members of the Merchant Navy Association from both the Boston  & South Lincs branch and the Immingham branch, along with representatives from the Church, South Holland District Council, Donington Parish Council and both village schools. Many of the invited guests made their way first to the Church of St Mary and the Holy Rood to see the Matthew Flinders display there.

After lunch  a few more people took the opportunity to address the invited audience including  Lady Marion Body (wife of retired local MP Sir Richard Body) who has recently published her own book on Matthew Flinders and who presented a copy to Mr Martyn Taylor (Headteacher) for the school.  Rick Morrish spoke about his ongoing project with IDEA to build a new village park.  John Cawthen (distant  relative of Matthew Flinders) fascinated us with his thoughts on the origins of  the nursery rhyme Little Polly Flinders. Lt Cdr Peter Ashley MA Royal Navy (Rtd) from Portsmouth spoke about his new book The Indomitable Captain Matthew Flinders€�. Judith Holmes-Drewry described how she created the wonderful statue,  and David Norton (Chairman of Spalding Flower Parade) told of the plans to ship  the Donington float in this years parade over to Canberra in Australia for their festival in October.

Captain Paul Folkes with Hannah, Daisy, Alex & Simon

At the reception held in the library at the Thomas Cowley High School afterwards, Captain Paul Folkes (Naval Attach for the Australian High Commissioner Mr Richard Alston) met up with the  four pupils whose work with the sculptor Judith Drewery had been turned into bronze tablets now displayed around the statue. Hannah, Daisy, Alex & Simon  all spoke at the unveiling ceremony