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Matthew Flinders was born on March 16, 1774 in Donington, United Kingdom. As a young kid his father wanted him to be a surgeon but Matthew had a really strong interest in seafaring. He would spend his time reading books and drawing pictures about sailing.

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His first opportunity for adventure came in 1791 when he joined the crew of HMS Providence on a voyage Tahiti, where they stayed for three months. While aboard the ship, he gained knowledge of navigation, tracking star patterns, using tools like the compass, and he took lessons from Bligh on chart construction. He also went on the HMS Reliance and with all the knowledge he had the crew members thought Flinders would have a chance to make history

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He traced the coasts of the Australian continent, proving that the east, New South Wales, was the same land mass as the west, New Holland (Australia). He produced the first complete map of Australia He produced the first complete map of Australia.

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Matthew and George Bass were the first Europeans to realize that Tasmania was an island; they sailed around it and produced its first map. Later the passage was named Bass Strait and one of the islands Flinders Island.

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Chart of Tasmania drawn by Matthew Flinders and George Bass 

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Chart of Tasmania drawn by Matthew Flinders and George Bass 

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Before it was named Australia it was called "Unknown South Land" or "New holland" but Matthew made a suggestion to rename it. He used the name Australia to describe the continent on a hand drawn map which was completed in 1804.

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On the way back to England in the autumn, Flinders had to make a stop for ship repairs at Île de France (now called Mauritius) in the western Indian Ocean. Thinking he was a spy, the French kept him prisoner for 6 1/2 years and stole his charts and papers (he was released when the British took over the island). He didn't arrive home until 1810, and reached home sick and a forgotten man. He wrote an account of his travels, called "Voyage to Terra Australis Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country," and died the day after it was published.

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General chart of Terra Australis or Australia

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General chart of Terra Australis or Australia

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Other countries knew about Australia but never really claimed the whole land for themselves. The routes people knew about on how to get to Australia, they used them to move there and start new lives

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Some explorers stay where they explored to get more fame and claim lots of land before anyone else can. Explorers colonize because they can find treasures that are very valuable in land that not many people have been to before. Few explorers decide not to colonize because they can’t find any resources that will help them live or can’t find any good treasures.

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Matthew Flinders-Voyage to Terra Australis Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country

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Matthew Flinders-Voyage to Terra Australis Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country

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Matthew Flinders really couldn't claim land for a kingdom when he discovered all of Australia because he was prisoner for 6 years by the French. Some countries decide to colonize because they want to grow and claim new land. It can be dangerous and the country doesn't have enough money to send people to new land or don’t have enough people who want to leave to new land where they have to build homes and find new ways to find food and water.

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People move to new colonies because they want to have a fresh start or because they want to explore to different places. Most of the time the native population decreases because the explore/country is claiming all the land for them and doesn’t care for the natives.

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“Biodiversity Heritage Library.” Biodiversity Heritage Library, www.biodiversitylibrary.org/.

Flannery, Tim.  Introduction to Terra Australis: Text Classics, Matthew Flinders’ Great Adventures in the Circumnavigation of Australia, by Matthew Flinders, vii. Melbourne: Text Publishing,  2000.

Flinders: Australian Explorer - EnchantedLearning.com,     www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/f/flinders.shtml.

Hoving, Ab  and Cor Emke. The Ships of Abel Tasman. The Netherlands: Uitgeverij Verloren, 2000.

“How Was Australia Named?” National Library of Australia, www.nla.gov.au/faq/how-was-australia-named.

Macquarie Street. “Matthew Flinders - Placing Australia on the Map.” State Library of NSW, Scheme=AGLSTERMS.AglsAgent; CorporateName=State Library of New South Wales; Address=Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000; Contact=+61 2 9273 1414, 19 Apr. 2018, www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/matthew-flinders-placing-australia-map.

Morgan, Kenneth  Matthew Flinders, Maritime Explorer of Australia. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.

“Published Accounts.” Matthew Flinders - Published Accounts, www.slsa.sa.gov.au/encounter/flinders/published.htm.