People of Australia (February)

Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders (1774-1814) was born in Lincolnshire in England. Flinders joined the navy where he trained as a navigator. Flinders wanted to become a sailor and explorer after reading the book Robinson Crusoe. He met George Bass, a ship's doctor, when they were both sailing to Australia on the Reliance. They became very good friends and were to go on many journeys of exploration together. Flinders was to first man to circumnavigate Australia. It was Flinders who suggested the name "Australia" and it was adopted in 1824. Several places have been named after him such as Flinders Island.

In 1796 Bass and Flinders explored the coastline south of Sydney using a tiny open boat about 2.5 metres long. It was called the Tom Thumb. As they were sailing along the southern coast of New South Wales, they were met by a party of fierce-looking aborigines. They decided to calm things down by trying to amuse the aborigines. Flinders pulled out a pair of scissors and started cutting the aborigines hair, while Bass and a servant boy called Martin made the boat ready. Then Flinders leapt aboard the flimsy boat and the three companions sailed away, leaving the aborigines on the shore.

Flinders had been doing some exploring on his own and believed that he could prove that Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) was an island. Bass and Flinders convinced Governor Hunter that another expedition should be set up with a bigger boat and more men. In 1798, Bass and Flinders sailed the Norfolk through Bass Strait and round Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), proving that it was an island. This was to be their last voyage together as Bass disappeared mysteriously in the Pacific Ocean.

Flinders returned to England in 1800. While he was here, he became married. The British government asked him to make an even bigger voyage - right around Australia. Leaving his wife, Anne, behind in England, he sailed back to Australia in the Investigator. In 1802, Flinders sailed north from Sydney, passing through Torres Strait and across the Gulf of Carpentaria. He went right round Australia, becoming the first man to circumnavigate Australia. He called in at Timor on the way, arriving back in Sydney in June, 1803.

Flinders was captured by the French on the island of Mauritius in 1803 until 1810. They claimed that he was a spy. He was later allowed to return to England. When he reached London, he was 39. but looked much older. His health began to fail and he died young, like Bass. Although very ill, he completed a book on his travels called « A Voyage to Terra Australis ». He died on the day that his book was published. Flinders proved that Australia was not a series of islands, but one island. His charts were so accurate, that they were used for many years after his death.

Willem Janssen

(c. 1570-after 1629)

First authenticated discoverer of Australia, Willem Janssen was born possibly about 1570, probably at Amsterdam, Holland. Nothing is known of his early life, and he is first heard of in 1598 as a mate on the Hollandia, one of the vessels in the second Dutch fleet to voyage to the East Indies. He returned to Holland, and on 21 December 1599, having been promoted to the position of first mate, sailed again for the Indies.
He made other voyages, but when he left Holland in December 1603 in command of the Duyfken, as part of a large fleet, the understanding was that this vessel was to remain in the east for three years, and endeavour to find new sources of trade. On 18 November 1605 Jansz left Bantam for Banda. From Banda an east-south-east course was taken to the Kei group, thence to Aru and the coast of New Guinea at De Jong's Point. Turning south the Gulf of Carpentaria was entered and the Australian coast was discovered at the mouth of the Pennefather River, on the Cape York peninsula, probably in March 1606. The course continued to latitude 13.59 when the Duyfken began her return journey. A visit was made to Prince of Wales Island, the New Guinea coast was again approached, and then a turn was made and Banda was reached in May 1606. For the first time some 200 miles of the Australian coastline had been charted, though Jansz was not aware it was not part of New Guinea.

Subsequently Jansz was in command of various vessels. He returned to Holland in 1611 when he was described in a letter from the chamber of Zeeland as "a very competent and sober man, who has pleased us greatly by his account of trade in the East". About the end of December 1611 he sailed again to the Indies in command of the Orangie. He became governor of Solor in 1614, and in 1617 made another visit to Holland. In January 1618 he went to Java as super-cargo on the Mauritius and arrived at Bantam on 22 August.

In October 1619 Jansz was sent with six ships against the British, surprised four ships which had been loading cargo on the west coast of Sumatra, and captured them. Peace with the British was made soon after and Jansz, who had been made an admiral, was engaged in a joint operation with them against the Philippines. For three and a half years from October 1623 Jansz was governor of Banda. He returned to Batavia in June 1627 and soon afterwards, as admiral of a fleet of eight vessels, went on a diplomatic mission to India. In December 1628 he sailed for Holland and on 16 July 1629 reported on the state of the Indies at The Hague. He was probably now about 60 years of age and willing to retire from his strenuous and successful life in the service of his country. Nothing is known of his last days.