Investigators background

 

* The Investigators Home Page

* Matthew Flinders and the Investigators

* The Investigators sample chapter: Prologue

 

Background: 

Matthew Flinders and The Investigators

Anthony Hill

The Investigators was written very much as a companion book to my 2008 historical novel Captain Cook’s Apprentice. Flinders’ voyage in HMS Investigator followed in the wake of Cook’s Endeavour in every sense of the word. Both were great British navigators, whose highly accurate charts of the continent were used for generations, and opened the country to colonisation and European settlement from the late 18th century.

As an author, I had long wanted to write the Investigator story for today’s readers. It was not until I read Ernestine Hill’s My Love Must Wait, about Flinders, that I found a way into it. There were several mentions of Flinders’ young cousin, John Franklin, aboard – and I saw it as an opportunity not only to retell the gripping story of the Investigator voyage, but also the early years afloat of Franklin: one of the most celebrated explorers of the 19th century.

 

 

Many books have been written about Franklin’s expeditions and death in North America, but none dwell at length about his youth.

He began his navy life by fighting with Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen aged 14; sailed as midshipman on Investigator; and within weeks of returning home, was at sea with Nelson and fought at Trafalgar.

 

Sir John Franklin c. 1845

 

Few young men have had such an adventurous start to their naval careers. See the sample chapter Prologue about John at Copenhagen.

 

 

Why Flinders?

Some will ask: why another book about Matthew Flinders? My answer is that I think it’s important that the most significant stories from Australia’s past be told anew for every generation. In part it helps us understand more about our history from a contemporary perspective, and thus those forces that shape our potential future. But really it’s because they are simply great stories of action, adventure and discovery that appeal to every generation of readers.

The aboriginal writer, Noel Pearson, speaks of the three pillars on which Australia’s heritage rests: Aboriginal Australia; British settlement, which brought our institutions of law and government, majority language and culture; and contemporary multicultural Australia  arising from the migrations from many different countries since the Second World War.

In recent years we have seen the welcome emergence of strong Aboriginal voices, reasserting in story, song, and in  public life the significance of the culture, history and perspectives of the First Australians. They are essential to a true understanding of our land.

Indigenous Australia: Throughout the writing of The Investigators and Captain Cook’s Apprentice, where contact was made with indigenous people, I have sought to give what has been called a view 'from the other side of the beach'. Wherever Flinders landed I made contact with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, copies of the relevant text were sent, opportunity given to comment and suggestions incorporated. I am very grateful to everyone who responded and helped me give the book these broader and deeper dimensions.

Multicultural Australia: What is true of Aboriginal Australia is also true of multicultural Australia, where people whose families migrated from around the world now occupy positions of prominence and influence in every aspect of Australian life. They too, are telling their stories of migration and transplantation, and the myriad ways that experience is also shaping us.

British Settlement: As the third pillar supporting contemporary Australia, I think it no less important that we acknowledge and celebrate the legacy that the best of the British settlement gave us: liberal, parliamentary democracy; the rule of law; a stable, prosperous and free society. To be sure they were fallible, imperfect human beings, as are we all: children of the age in which we are born and must be judged as such. The British pioneers had their shortcomings, not least in their relations with indigenous Australians (as Matthew Flinders was the first to call the original inhabitants of this land.)

But in an iconoclastic age, it seems to me far better that we acknowledge their achievements – even as we recognise their failings and seek to correct the wrongs – rather than tear down statues and try to erase the past. Cook and Flinders were precursors – laying down a track on their charts that others would follow. They cannot be held responsible for the misdeeds of those who came after. Rather should they be remembered for their contribution to the making of modern Australia, and their vision as humane – and human – men.

Celebrating achievements

As a navigator, Flinders had three significant achievements.

* In the 1790s he circumnavigated Tasmania with his friend George Bass, proving that it was an island (Van Diemen’s Land). In so doing, they also proved Bass's hypothesis that a strait existed between the island and the mainland (Bass Strait) which cut at least a week in sailing time from Britain.

* With Investigator, Flinders was the first European to chart the southern coastline from the east coast of the Great Australian Bight (which he named) to Port Lincoln, Spencer Gulf, St Vincent’s Gulf, and Kangaroo Island to Encounter Bay near Victor Harbour, where he met the French expedition led by Nicolas Baudin. Flinders thought he discovered Port Phillip Bay, but when he reached Sydney he found it had been first entered for the Europeans by Lieutenant John Murray ten weeks before Investigator arrived.

 

Statue of Matthew Flinders, Melbourne

 

* Flinders' third achievement was to discover a safe channel for shipping through the notoriously dangerous Torres Strait, still known as the Flinders Channel. From there he went on to make a highly accurate chart of the Gulf of Carpentaria. He proved that the form drawn by the earlier Dutch navigators was the result of a real examination and not the ‘representation of Fairyland’ most mariners hitherto supposed. Flinders’ charts of the Gulf were so good, they were used for at least the next 150 years.

 

Picture credits: Photograph of Sir John Franklin, Flinders statue outside St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, both Wikipedia Commons