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'''Matthew Flinders''' (1774-1814), British navigator and hydrographer, is the man who gave the continent of Australia both its name and its outline.

'''Matthew Flinders''' (1774-1814), British navigator and hydrographer, is the man who gave the continent of Australia both its name and its outline.

He joined the [[Royal Navy]] in 1789, served at the battle of the [[Glorious First of June]] in 1794 and, in 1795, arrived in the infant colony of [[New South Wales]] as a midshipman. On the voyage out he had struck up a friendship with the ship’s surgeon, [[George Bass]] and between them they managed to explore and survey much of the coast south of [[Sydney]], the [[Furneaux Islands]] in [[Bass Strait]], partly by open boat; and by early 1799, they had circumnavigated [[Van Diemen's Land]] ([[Tasmania]].)

He joined the [[Royal Navy]] in 1789, served at the battle of the [[Glorious First of June]] in 1794 and, in 1795, arrived in the infant colony of [[New South Wales]] as a midshipman. On the voyage out he had struck up a friendship with the ship's surgeon, [[George Bass]] and between them they managed to explore and survey much of the coast south of [[Sydney]], the [[Furneaux Islands]] in [[Bass Strait]], partly by open boat; and by early 1799, they had circumnavigated [[Van Diemen's Land]] ([[Tasmania]].)

Back in [[England]] in 1801, he was given command of the sloop, ‘’Investigator”, with orders to explore the “Unknown Coast”: that part of southern Australia between what was known from Dutch  visits in the west and Flinders’ and Bass's own surveys in the east – basically from the southwest corner of the continent to the site of present-day [[Melbourne]]. He did this between December 1801 and May 1802  before proceeding to [[Port Jackson]], (Sydney) In July he continued  up the coast, following in the path of [[James Cook]], but more painstakingly, frequently using the ship’s boat close inshore. He surveyed parts of the [[Great Barrier Reef]] and the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]], before returning via the already known coasts of the north and west. He had circumnavigated the continent in a leaky, worn out and undersized vessel.

Back in [[England]] in 1801, he was given command of the sloop, ‘’Investigator”, with orders to explore the “Unknown Coast”: that part of southern Australia between what was known from Dutch  visits in the west and Flinders’ and Bass's own surveys in the east – basically from the southwest corner of the continent to the site of present-day [[Melbourne]]. He did this between December 1801 and May 1802  before proceeding to [[Port Jackson]], (Sydney) In July he continued  up the coast, following in the path of [[James Cook]], but more painstakingly, frequently using the ship's boat close inshore. He surveyed parts of the [[Great Barrier Reef]] and the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]], before returning via the already known coasts of the north and west. He had circumnavigated the continent in a leaky, worn out and undersized vessel.

He sailed for England in the schooner, “Cumberland”, calling in at the [[French]] island of [[Mauritius]] in December 1803, where he was arrested and held as a spy for the next eight years, despite having a passport. He arrived back in England, his health shattered, in 1811, three years before his death in 1814, and the day after the publication of his monumental account: “A Voyage to Terra Australis”, the preface of which includes the words: ''“Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term, it would have been to convert it into '''Australia'''; as being more agreeable to the ear, and as an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth.”'' This is the first recorded use of the name by which the continent, and the nation, would become known.

He sailed for England in the schooner, “Cumberland”, calling in at the [[French]] island of [[Mauritius]] in December 1803, where he was arrested and held as a spy for the next eight years, despite having a passport. He arrived back in England, his health shattered, in 1811, three years before his death in 1814, and the day after the publication of his monumental account: “A Voyage to Terra Australis”, the preface of which includes the words: ''“Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term, it would have been to convert it into '''Australia'''; as being more agreeable to the ear, and as an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth.”'' This is the first recorded use of the name by which the continent, and the nation, would become known.