Captain Matthew Flinders & TrimPrint Page

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 from 1801 to 1803.

The statue was commissioned to mark Flinders University`s 50th anniversary celebration in 2016 and was originally unveiled by the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull and was to be placed at Flinders Railway Station.  The statue was placed in its present location on the 19th May 2021 when the rail line was completed.

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 in Port Lincoln.  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.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has unveiled the University’s 50th anniversary life-size bronze statue of Australian explorer and namesake Matthew Flinders. The 1.8 metre high bronze was crafted by Britain’s most noted sculptor, Mark Richards FRBS, who was commissioned to create a full size replica to mark Flinders University’s 50th anniversary celebrations this year.

The original sculpture, depicting a working Matthew Flinders in action over a stylised map of Australia – and also featuring his pet cat Trim – is placed at one of England’s busiest train stations, Euston in North London, where Flinders’ remains are rumoured to be buried under platform four or five.

It was unveiled in 2014 by HRH Prince William of Cambridge to commemorate the bicentenary of Matthew Flinders’ death and the publication of his account of his travels, titled A Voyage to Terra Australis.

Flinders Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling says it is a fitting synergy that the second statue, like the first, will be located at a rail station – the new Flinders Rail Station.

“It is equally fitting that the Flinders Rail Station will promote innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration, qualities exemplified by Matthew Flinders,” Professor Stirling says.

Coinciding with the official statue unveiling, Prime Minister Turnbull announced the allocation of $85 million in funding for a rail extension to Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre during a visit to Flinders at Tonsley on Friday, 13 May.
Flinders University, 13 May 2016.

A life-size statue of famed navigator Matthew Flinders has finally been placed in its ‘forever’ home at Flinders’ Station Plaza, almost five years to the day after its original unveiling by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The bronze statue is an exact replica of a monument of the University’s namesake at London’s Euston Station.

In 2016, the statue was unveiled as part of the announcement of a rail link to Flinders University, and with the recent completion of the rail line the statue can today be officially welcomed to its new location as part of the celebrations launching Station Plaza.

The event also revealed a banner in honour of Bungaree, a senior Kuringgai man who was Flinders’ interpreter and guide, and who Flinders credits as “a brave and worthy man who saved the expedition multiple times”.

Station Plaza is a new gateway to the University precinct and pivotal step in the realisation of Flinders Village.
Flinders University News, 19 May 2021. 

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