MATTHEW Flinders was an explorer in the 18th and 19th centuries who was the first person to circumnavigate Australia.
We explain who he was, what he achieved and where his remains were found.
Who was Matthew Flinders?
Matthew Flinders was an English navigator and cartographer who identified Australia as a continent after being the first person to circumnavigate it.
He lived from March 16, 1774 until his death on July 10, 1814.
He was born in Donington, Lincolnshire and is the son of a surgeon.
Flinders’ passion for the sea started when he read Robinson Crusoe.
At age 15 he joined the Royal Navy and travelled from Tahiti to Jamaica transporting breadfruit.
He married his longtime friend Ann Chappelle and they had one daughter together named Ann.
Flinders made three voyages to the southern ocean between 1791 and 1810.
What did Flinders achieve?
Flinders made three voyages to the southern ocean and in the third one he circumnavigated Australia with an Aboriginal man named Bungaree.
He wasn’t the first person to use the word “Australia”, but in 1804 he first mentioned it in a letter to his brother.
He wrote: “I call the whole island Australia, or Terra Australis.”
On his way back to England he stopped at Isle de France, or modern-day Mauritius, because his ship needed repairs.
Since England and France were currently at war, he was held in captivity for more than six years.
This is when Flinders recorded the details of his voyages and began to think of using the word “Australia” as an umbrella term for what was then New Holland and New South Wales.
His book A Voyage to Terra Australis was published in 1814 – one day after Flinders died.
Where were his remains found?
Flinders was buried at St James Church, Hampstead Road in London.
Since 1852 the exact location of Flinders’ remains had been forgotten because of alterations to the churchyard.
It was later thought his grave was under a platform at Euston station.
However, on January 24, 2019 his remains were discovered by archaeologists working on the HS2 rail route that will be built near London Euston station.
His remains were identified by a well-preserved lead breast plate on top of his coffin.
It is proposed to re-bury his remains and at a site to be decided after the body has been scientifically examined.
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What is his legacy?
Flinders is widely credited with popularising the word “Australia”.
Even though he never once used his own name to feature in his discoveries, his name is now associated with more than 100 geographical features and places in Australia.
The island of Coochiemudlo celebrates Flinders Day annual to commemorate when he landed there on July 19, 1799.
Flinders also found time to write the biography of the ship’s cat Trim, who survived falling over board and a shipwreck.
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News Photo Who was Matthew Flinders, where were his remains found and what was the English navigator’s achievements?
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