Matthew Flinders, Hydrographer

Extract

In the bicentenary year of the birth of Matthew Flinders at Donington, near Boston in Lincolnshire, it is my privilege to present to Members of three notable British societies some details of the life and work of this great hydrographer.

His surveying and charting impact was made entirely in Australian waters and he is probably better remembered in that country today than he is in his homeland. It is my hope that my discourse, added to the many activities that have been arranged in Britain this year, will do something to rectify this situation. My talk will attempt to tell the brief story of Flinders' 40 years of life and work, beset in his later years by many misfortunes. I will also examine in some detail how Flinders conducted his surveys by taking a few isolated examples, and finally briefly review the results of his labours.