User:Carriearchdale/Sandbox/Mathew Flinders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Captain Matthew Flinders RN (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was an English navigator and cartographer. He was the first to travel around the entire land mass of Australia. He identified it as a continent.
Matthew Flinders | |
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Born | (1774-03-16)16 March 1774 Donington, Lincolnshire, England |
Died | 19 July 1814(1814-07-19) (aged 40) London, England |
Occupation | Royal Navy Ships Officer |
Spouse(s) | Ann Chappelle (m. 1801; his death 1814) |
Children | Anne |
Flinders made three voyages to the southern ocean (August 1791 – August 1793, February 1795 – August 1800 and July 1801 – October 1810). In the second voyage, George Bass and Flinders confirmed that Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) was an island. Between voyages two and three, in December 1781, Flinders fought in the Battle of Ushant (1781) against the French. In the third voyage, Flinders travelled around the entire land mass the mainland of what was to be called Australia.
Flinders headed back to England in 1803. His vessel needed urgent repairs at Isle de France (Mauritius). Since Britain and France were at war, a suspicious governor kept him under arrest for more than six years. In captivity, he recorded details of his voyages for future publication. He put forward his rationale for naming the new continent 'Australia'. He said that it was an umbrella term for New Holland and New South Wales Flinders' suggestion was taken up later by Governor Macquarie.
Flinders' health suffered. He reached home in 1810. Flinders died before the publication of his widely praised book and atlas, A Voyage to Terra Australis.[1]