Take 5

Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders RN (1774–1814) was an English naval officer and maritime surveyor. He made three Pacific voyages between 1791 and 1810. His most notable journey, from 1801 to 1803 aboard the Investigator, is the first recorded circumnavigation of what is now known as the Australian mainland. By linking and expanding upon earlier surveys, Flinders also produced the first comprehensive map of the continent. 

Upon returning to England in 1810, Flinders compiled his charts and observations in A Voyage to Terra Australis, a monumental two-volume work with an accompanying atlas. Published in July 1814, shortly before his death, it is uncertain whether he ever saw a final copy.

Flinders University is custodian of significant artefacts connected to its namesake. Generously gifted by Flinders’ descendants, most recently in 2024, these objects offer invaluable insights into his life and enduring legacy.  

This compass is probably one of two listed among the ‘List of instruments, books and stationary (sic), supplied for the use of the Commander of the Investigator by the Honourable Navy Board.’  Both were designed by Ralph Walker, Flinders’ colleague from his days on HMS Providence with Captain William Bligh.¹

Founded in 1800, British manufacturer Jennens & Co. specialised in finely embellished buttons, buckles and badges. These ornate accessories were reserved for distinguished figures, adorning the uniforms of court officials, diplomats, naval officers and military personnel. Flinders would have been entitled to wear these buttons on his uniform when he was promoted to Commander in February 1801. At this time, he would have had them sewn onto his blue frock coat, as shown in both the surviving portraits of him from 1801 and 1807. 

Ann Chappelle, born in September 1770, married Matthew Flinders on April 17, 1801. The couple had hoped to travel together aboard the Investigator in June 1801, but the authorities would not allow it. Left behind, Ann endured significant distress and ill health during her husband’s nine-year absence.

Unusually brief, this letter was written from the northeastern coast of Australia.  Flinders assures his wife of the good progress of his voyage and reminds her of his affection. The letter’s postmark reveals that it reached Ann a full year later, illustrating the long delays in communication that characterised their separation.

According to the 1921 Adelaide Register Mr Fred. Pilgrim owned ‘a coral necklace which Flinders obtained during his voyage round the northern coast of Australia, and presented in England to his sister Susanna and her baby girl’, his grandmother.²

Despite this history, we do not know for certain where the necklace was made. It is possible that Flinders carried some loose coral with him to Mauritius and had it fashioned into a necklace there, where similar necklaces are now readily available. Alternatively, he may have carried the coral with him back to England and had the necklace made on his return.

Flinders drafted his Will in October 1811, a year after he returned from his detention on Mauritius. However, it was not signed until 6 July 1812, after the birth of his daughter on 1 April 1812. According to Geoffrey Ingleton, ‘it was … excessively generous; for he remembered all his relations and friends to the extent that, when the time came to prove the Will for probate, there were not sufficient assets.’³

At the time when the Will was written and executed, Flinders was in good health and anticipating years of activity and prosperity which sadly were not to be. Ann’s share in the estate yielded a modest annuity of £55.

¹ Australian Circumnavigated: The Voyage of Matthew Flinders in HMS Investigator, 1801-1803 ed. Kenneth Morgan. Hakluyt Society, 2015, p. 138.

² ‘Capt. Matthew Flinders.’ Register (Adelaide) Saturday 14 May 1981, p. 6.

³ Geoffrey Ingleton, Matthew Flinders, Navigator and Chartmaker. Genesis Publications, 1986, p. 402.

Dr Gillian Dooley 
Honorary Associate Professor, English
College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University

Fiona Salmon
Director, Flinders University Museum of Art
College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University

December 2024
© Flinders University