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Captain Matthew Flinders & TrimPrint Page Print this page

12-November-2017 (Mary Beaven)
12-November-2017 (Mary Beaven)

Photographs supplied by Mary Beaven

The sculpture commemorates navigator Matthew Flinders (1774 -1814) and his cat Trim. Trim was a ship`s cat who accompanied Matthew Flinders on his voyages to circumnavigate and map the coastline of Australia in 1801–03.

The statue depicts Flinders kneeling and using his compass to chart his voyage along the South Australian coast.  His map of Australia is on the base and he is measuring a part of the coastline. A similar statue is located at Flinders University Campus, Tonsley.  Another casting of the same statue is on permanent today at London's Euston Station, beneath which Matthew Flinders is buried.

Flinders set sail from England in "HMS Investigator" in July 1801 with a commission to examine and survey the coast of New Holland, with particular reference to the `unknown coast` between longitude 130 degrees East of, and Bass Strait.

Flinders arrived at and named Fowlers Bay on South Australia`s west coast in January 1802 and from there on continued to explore, map, describe and name South Australia`s coastline in particular detail. A significant event during the course of the expedition was the `encounter` between the "Investigator" and "Le Geographe" under the command of Frenchman Captain Nicolas Baudin, in Encounter Bay on 8 April 1802. 

Flinders` voyage was important scientifically for the botanical and zoological work undertaken, for Flinders` thorough and innovative work on navigational and cartographical problems and for his attention to the health and welfare of his crew. His detailed and meticulous work in exploring and mapping the unknown coast between the head of the Great Australian Bight and the Murray Mouth has no equal in Australia`s maritime history.

Location

Address:60 Tasman Terrace, Flinders Archway, Port Lincoln, 5606
State:SA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -34.719312
Long: 135.857364
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Sculpture
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Exploration
Designer:Mark Richards (England)

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Saturday 25th February, 2017
Inscription in Proximity

Captain Matthew Flinders
Navigator and cartographer

This statue of Matthew Flinders RN and his cat Trim was donated to Axel Stenross Maritime Museum by the Lang Foundation on the 215 year  anniversary of Flinders surveying Boston Bay on HMS Investigator

Unveiled 25 February 2017 by His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC, Governor of South Australia

In the presence of Member for Flinders, Peter Treloar MP Hydrographer of Australia,
Commodore Brett Brace, RAN
Mayor of City of Lincoln UK, Councillor Yvonne Bodger
Mayor of Port Lincoln SA, Bruce Green
Lang Foundation, Roger Lang

Lang Foundation
Axel Stenross Maritime Musuem Inc.
City of Port Lincoln

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au