Matthew Flinders (1774-1814)
Matthew Flinders was born in Donington, the son of surgeon Matthew Flinders and his wife Susannah.
In his own words, he was “induced to go to sea against the wishes of my friends from reading Robinson Crusoe” and in 1789, at the age of 15, he joined the Royal Navy.
He first served on HMS Alert, then transferred to HMS Scipio, and in July 1790 was made midshipman on HMS Bellerophon under Captain Pasley.
On Pasley’s recommendation, he joined Captain Bligh’s expedition on HMS Providence, transporting breadfruit from Tahiti to Jamaica. This was also Bligh’s second “Breadfruit Voyage” following on from the ill-fated voyage of the Bounty.
Flinders’ first voyage to New South Wales, and first trip to Port Jackson, was in 1795 as a midshipman aboard HMS Reliance, carrying the newly appointed governor of New South Wales Captain John Hunter.
On this voyage he quickly established himself as a fine navigator and cartographer, and became friends with the ship’s surgeon, Aswarby-born George Bass who was three years his senior.
Not long after their arrival in Port Jackson, Bass and Flinders made two expeditions in small open boats, both named Tom Thumb: the first to Botany Bay and Georges River, the second, in a larger Tom Thumb, south from Port Jackson to Lake Illawarra during which expedition, they had to seek shelter at Wattamolla.
In 1798, Matthew Flinders, by now a lieutenant, was given command of the Norfolk and orders “to sail beyond Furneaux’s Islands, and, should a strait be found, pass through it, and return by the south end of Van Diemen’s Land”.
The passage between the Australian mainland and Tasmania enabled savings of several days on the journey from England, and was named Bass Strait, after his close friend. In honour of this discovery, the largest island in Bass Strait would later be named Flinders Island.
The town of Flinders near the mouth of Western Port also commemorates Bass’ discovery of that bay and port on 4 January 1798.
In March 1800, Flinders rejoined the Reliance and set sail for England.
Flinders’ work had come to the attention of many of the scientists of the day, in particular the influential Lincolnshire-born Sir Joseph Banks, to whom Flinders dedicated his Observations on the Coasts of Van Diemen’s Land, on Bass’s Strait, etc..
In January 1801, Flinders was given command of the Investigator, a 334-ton sloop, and promoted to commander the following month.
The Investigator set sail for New Holland on 18 July 1801. Attached to the expedition was the botanist Robert Brown, botanical artist Ferdinand Bauer and landscape artist William Westall.
Due to the scientific nature of the expedition, Flinders was issued with a French passport, despite England and France then being at war.
In 1801, Flinders married his longtime friend Ann Chappelle (1772–1852) and had hoped to bring her with him to Port Jackson.
However the Admiralty had strict rules against wives accompanying captains.
Flinders brought Ann on board ship and planned to ignore the rules, but the Admiralty learned of his plans and he was severely chastised for his bad judgment and told he must remove her from the ship.
As a result, Ann was obliged to stay in England and would not see her husband for nine years, following his imprisonment on the Isle de France (a French possession) on his return journey.
When they finally reunited, Matthew and Ann had one daughter, Anne, born 1 April 1812, who later married William Petrie (1821–1908).
Aboard the Investigator Flinders reached and named Cape Leeuwin on 6 December 1801, and proceeded to make a survey along the southern coast of the Australian mainland.
Along the coast Flinders explored Port Phillip, which unbeknown to him had been discovered only 10 weeks earlier by John Murray aboard the Lady Nelson.
Flinders set sail for England as a passenger aboard HMS Porpoise. However the ship was wrecked on Wreck Reefs, part of the Great Barrier Reef, approximately 700 miles (1100 km) north of Sydney.
Flinders navigated the ship’s cutter across open sea back to Sydney, and arranged for the rescue of the remaining marooned crew.
He then took command of the 29-ton schooner Cumberland in order to return to England, but the poor condition of the vessel forced him to put in at French-controlled Isle de France (now known as Mauritius) for repairs on 17 December 1803.
War with France had broken out again the previous May, but Flinders hoped his French passport (though for a different vessel) and the scientific nature of his mission would allow him to continue on his way. Despite this, the French governor, Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen, was suspicious and detained Flinders.
The relationship between the men soured: Flinders was affronted at his treatment, and Decaen insulted by Flinders’ refusal of an invitation to dine with him and his wife. Decaen’s search of Flinders’ vessel uncovered a trunk full of papers from the governor of New South Wales that were not permitted under his scientific passport.
Decaen referred the matter to the French government; this was delayed not only by the long voyage but also by the general confusion of war. Eventually, on 11 March 1806, Napoleon gave his approval, but Decaen still refused to allow Flinders’ release.
in June 1809 the Royal Navy began a blockade of the island, and in June 1810 Flinders was paroled. Travelling via the Cape of Good Hope on Olympia, which was taking despatches back to Britain, he received a promotion to post-captain, before continuing to England.
Flinders had been confined for the first few months of his captivity, but he was later afforded greater freedom to move around the island and access his papers. In November 1804 he sent the first map of the landmass he had charted) back to England.
Flinders finally returned to England in October 1810. He was in poor health but immediately resumed work preparing A Voyage to Terra Australis and his atlas of maps for publication.
On 19 July 1814, Matthew Flinders died, aged 40. He was buried at St James, Hampstead Road, though the grave has since been lost due to alterations to the churchyard.
His grave was discovered near Euston Station, in January 2019, during excavations for the new London terminus of the new HS2 railway.
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