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Captain Matthew Flinders Print Page
The monument commemorates the fact that Matthew Flinders commenced the mapping of the Australian coastline from a spot out to sea from Cape Leeuwin in December 1801.
Captain Matthew Flinders RN (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a distinguished English navigator and cartographer, who was the first to circumnavigate Australia and identify it as a continent.
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. In the third voyage, Flinders circumnavigated the mainland of what was to be called Australia.
Location
Address: | Leeuwin Road, Point Matthew, Cape Leeuwin, 6290 |
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State: | WA |
Area: | AUS |
GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -34.367222 Long: 115.1475 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
Monument Type: | Monument |
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Monument Theme: | People |
Sub-Theme: | Exploration |
Actual Event Start Date: | 06-December-1801 |
Link: | http://adb.anu.edu.au/ |
Dedication
On 6 December 1801
CAPTAIN MATTHEW FLIDERS R.N.
Commander of H.M.S. Investigator
Sighted Cape Leeuwin And Commenced
The Mapping Of The Australian Coast.
This memorial was erected by the Augusta Branch
of the Royal W. A. Historical Society.