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Matthew Flinders - Donington's Famous Son





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 (née Flinders) Petrie, accepted on behalf of her young son, named William Matthew Flinders Petrie, the archaeologist and Egyptologist.







1804 Map drawn by Matthew Flinders on which he names Australia for the first time.































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.
























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.




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 16TH MARCH 2006

Click here to see photos taken at the unveiling of the Matthew Flinders statue

A very warm welcome greeted the arrival of Donington’s 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 afew 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 afew 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 year’s 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 Attaché 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

DAISY HEDUAX

During the art workshop we went on, our project was to make a plaque from clay. We were helped by the sculptor, Judith Holmes Drewry of Le Blanc Fine Art. We were all asked to choose a part of Matthew Flinders’ life and create a plaque based on that. First of all I wanted to do my plaque as a symbol of Matthew Flinders’ wedding but developed a better and more creative idea for when Matthew Flinders met his life-long sailing partner and friend George Bass. In my imagination they met on a ship and to make this clearer to the viewer I put two hands shaking behind a steering wheel. This was a challenge because I have never really worked with clay, just pencils and paper. Luckily we had our fabulous art teacher, Mrs Reid there for help and, of course, Judith herself. Judith was making the statue of Matthew whilst we were at her studio and we got to see the clay version – not yet finished. I found it all so interesting including the fact that Matthew Flinders was actually born in Lincolnshire and went to our school. After discovering this, I wanted to know more information on the subject. Whilst researching, I found the final idea for my plaque. Allegedly Flinders and Bass did meet on a ship and Bass was the ship’s doctor. They both sailed on the Reliance to Australia, which Flinders actually named. Although this was very interesting, I was eager to get started on my plaque. It took a good while but I did finish and I was happy with the results.

HANNAH BURTON

Hello, my name is Hannah Burton and my piece of work is about Matthew Flinders’ marriage.
He married Ann Chappelle on the 17th April 1801. After only two months of marriage, Ann and Matthew were separated, as Matthew had to go on a voyage that should only have lasted a couple of years. However, they did not reunite for almost a decade.

My piece of work has a tree in the middle with Ann and Matthew’s wedding ring around the trunk. It is surrounded by a hedge in the shape of a heart.

It was a great experience and I really enjoyed myself.

ALEX ANDERSON

I also enjoyed my time making my clay plaque. My plaque represents the time in Matthew Flinders’ great life where he met the aborigines for the first time. The aborigines had never seen a white person before and they were fascinated by his white skin and his smooth face, as they had no means to shave themselves. Matthew Flinders managed to communicate with the Australian natives successfully and shaved their beards off as a sign of peace. He made detailed notes on the way they live and this is still appreciated today.

SIMON CLARKE

I also enjoyed my time at the Foundry. I chose to make my plaque on the theme of the Napoleonic Wars between the British and the French. During this war Matthew Flinders was captured by the French and held at Mauritius for six years. During his captivity his beloved cat Trim was eaten by the French.
Thank you for listening to us and enjoy the rest of the unveiling.























Now, thanks to Bill Fairbanks the map is being recognised as “the Birth Certificate of Australia”. The first of these maps was presented by Bill and members of the Flinders
 
 Family to the Governor of New South Wales, Marie Bashir, who was in London at the time, April 1st 2004. It now hangs in The Parkes Room at the Australian Centre, which is the Parliament of New South Wales. 
 
  Bill Fairbanks has presented copies of 1804 maps to other States in Australia, he still has to present one in Canberra, they will only accept the original, which is for all time held in this country, he is hoping to present one there by the end of 2006. He is so passionate about the recognition of this map, that he wanted to present it to the people of Donington, the birthplace of Matthew Flinders, a fitting place for the Map to be. Bill has no relatives or knowledge of Donington, only his interest in this amazing explorer, has led him to get in touch with us. Alan James, who looks after the Matthew Flinders corner in our Church has been very helpful in helping me to organise this presentation, with his enormous knowledge of Matthew Flinders, he has talked to Bill Fairbanks and knows the significance of this map.

 Graham Fairbanks, Bill’s son was arriving in this country just a week before the Presentation his Father wished Graham, to present me with the Map on behalf of the People of Donington, which I was pleased to do, a copy was also presented to Mr Martin Taylor for the Thomas Cowley High School, another will be presented to The Church.
 
 Mr and Mrs James and myself were pleased to welcome a number of other people to our presentation, including five members of the Merchant Navy who displayed their flag, Amanda Puttick, Chairman of South Holland District Council and Terry Huggins, Chief Executive of South Holland District Council, The Vicar, Rosemary Goddard, two students from The Thomas Cowley High School, Scott and Harriet, who have been chosen from fifteen applicants to visit Australia in September of this year. Mr Brian Robinson was also in attendance, he has represented Donington at Australian events many times, and he was wearing a tie decorated with kangaroos, which had been presented to him at one of those occasions. We were pleased to see people taking an interest in what was happening, including a visiting Canadian gentleman from Alberta, who took photographs for me.
The copy I received will hang in the Ruby Hunt Centre for everyone to see and a fitting tribute the Ruby Hunt for all her efforts to bring recognition to Donington’s famous son.
As we have a statue to commemorate Matthew Flinders and his cat Trim, in Sydney, Bill Fairbanks is embarking on his next quest to erect a statue at Circular Key in Sydney Cove.
Matthew Flinders was inspired by reading Robinson Crusoe, and his “Man Friday”, Flinders had an aborigine called Bungaree on some of his voyages, he was his Man Friday, Flinders, Bungaree and Trim the cat will all be depicted in their statue.