Name/TitleA Voyage to Terra Australis Volume III, Atlas
About this objectMatthew Flinders was one of the outstanding navigators and cartographers of his era. Flinders was the first to circumnavigate Australia, finally establishing that the continent was one large island and not, as previously had been speculated, divided by a navigable central strait. Flinders championed the name Australia over the previous name of New Holland.
This is the atlas from the official account Flinders wrote of his great voyage in the Investigator circumnavigating and charting the coastline of Australia between 1801 and 1803. The charts were of such accuracy that they continued to be issued by the Admiralty for decades and form the basis of all modern charts of Australia. Flinders survived shipwreck and disaster only to be imprisoned by the French on Mauritius for nearly seven years before returning to England in 1810.
On 19 July 1814, the day after the book and atlas were published, Matthew Flinders died, aged 40.
MakerMatthew Flinders - Cartographer
Maker RoleCartographer
Date Made1814
Period19th century
Place MadeLondon, United Kingdom
Place NotesPlace of publication
Medium and MaterialsPaper and ink. Bound book.
Measurements495mm x 685mm x 25mm
Object TypeMaps and Charts
Object numberSF000813
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
Explore by category
Maps and Charts
Date range: 1541-1836
Ship Models
Date range: 1629-1890
Maritime Paintings
Date range: 1793-1849
Manuscripts and Ephemera
Date range: 1768-c1850
Medallions & Convict Tokens
Date range: 1619-1880
Indigenous History
Date range: c1800-1959
Landscapes
Date range: 1768-c1850
Books
Date range: 1694-c1850
Currency and Shares
Date range: 1624-1823
Printed Material
Date range: 1541-1836
Maritime Archaeology
Date range: 1629-1854
Curator's corner
New acquisitions, staff favourites and curios
The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art