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The list below, with its carefully researched references was provided by Peter Reynders of Australia on the Map (AOTM), the history division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society. Its aim is to help Australians to know their early Maritime Contact History better.
FROM JANSZOON TO DE FREYCINET: CONCISE DATABASE OF SELECTED LANDINGS ON THE AUSTRALIAN COAST AND RELATED EVENTS FROM 1606 TO 1814
YEAR |
COMMANDERS |
VESSELS |
LOCATIONS |
KEY EVENTS |
REFERENCES |
1606 |
Willem Janszoon, Jan Lodewijkszoon van Rosingeyn |
Duyfken |
Queensland, west coast of Cape York Penninsula, south to Cape Keer Weer; 1st landfall at Pennefather River; |
First locally charted foreign map of coast; March; original documents lost; based on other contemporary sources and copies; contacts with the local people, 9 sailors killed during voyage |
Heeres pp4-6; Schilder pp43-53 Oldest copy in Van Der Hem atlas (1670); |
1606 |
Luis Vaes De Torres |
San Pedrico; Los Tres Reyes |
Torres Strait |
1st to sail through Strait; July/August; |
Major pp 31-42 Schilder p.109; Estensen p186 Strait appears first on Langren Globe (1632), Gerritszoon Map(dated 1634) and in English in 1767 (Dalrymple) |
1610-11 |
Hendrik Brouwer |
? |
Did not land or see coast of Australia |
Established route via southern Indian Ocean to E Indies |
Schilder pp 55-57 |
1616 |
Dirck Hartog |
Eendracht |
WA: Dirk Hartog Island [Eeendracht Land] |
1st recorded landing in WA. Left pewter plate with names and date:25 Oct left 27 Oct |
Major ppixxxi-xxxiv; Heeres pp 8-10 |
1618 |
Haevik Claeszoon |
Zeewolf |
nr North West Cape |
Sighted NW Cape on 11 May |
Heeres pp10-12 |
1618 |
Lenaert Jacobszoon |
Mauritius |
North West Cape; Willems River=Jocob Remmessens River = likely Yardie Creek |
July 31, Antonio Van Diemen on board, sees Australia. Also on board is Supercargo Willem Janszoon, former Master of Duyfken , visiting Australia for the second time. He reports an island [North West Cape] |
Heeres pp 12-13, 54, 57; Schilder p 72 Mutch 1942 |
1619 |
Frederik De Houtman, J Dedel |
Dordrecht, Amsterdam, |
Swan River region |
De Houtman Abrolhos, Rottnest Is, 19 July |
Heeres pp14-16; Schilder pp75-77 |
1622 |
? |
Leeuwin |
Coast of d'Entrecasteaux National Park, coast south of Cape Leeuwin and likely also Cape Leeuwin |
Noticed south coast curved eastwards, 35 degrees south |
Heeres p 18 |
1622 |
Publication of Map of the Pacific |
Compiled by VOC cartographerHessel Gerritszoon |
Showing information gathered by Janszoon in 1606 |
Oldest existing map showing any part of Australia. Map has also indirect ref to De Torres' sailing through Torres Strait |
Schilder pp288-9 Map 23 Estensen p186 |
1622 |
? |
't Wapen van Hoorn |
Eendracht Land probably Edel Land (westernmost peninsula forming Shark Bay), or Dirk Hartog Island |
Ran aground June 1622, refloated |
Heeres p18 |
1622 |
John Brookes |
Tryall |
Monte Bellos, Tryall Rocks |
First European wreck in Australian waters, EEIC vessel. 46 people took off in two small vessels incl Brookes, 93 left to perish on the wreck. |
Heeres pp 18-21 Henderson, G p 4 |
1623 |
J Carstenszoon, W van Coolsteerdt |
Pera, Arnhem |
Arnhemland, west coast of Cape York Penninsula |
January |
Heeres pp 27-48 Schilder pp 84-96 |
1623 |
Claes Hermanszoon |
Leijden |
South of Dirk Hartog Island |
1st European baby born in Australian waters. Leijden back here in 1626 |
Heeres p 49 Estensen p152 |
1624 |
Unknown |
Tortelduyff |
Turtledove Shoal, south of Houtman Abrolhos, WA |
Sighting of the shoal was mapped by Hessel Gerritz in 1628. |
Howgego p521 Sigmond & Zuiderbaan p 51 |
1626 |
Daniel Cock |
Leijden |
Zuytdorp Cliffs to Dirk Hartog Island |
Sighted coast but did not land |
Heeres p 50 Estensen p 152 |
1627 |
Commander Peter Nuyts, skipper François Thijssen |
't Gulden Zeepaert |
Mapped south coast of Australia as far as Fowler's Bay, SA |
First map of south coast and of SA coast |
Heeres p 51; Schilder pp106-7 |
1627 |
Gov. Gen of E I: Jan P. Coen |
Galias, Utrecht, Texel |
Lat 28 deg 30 min, WA, almost strike Abrolhos reefs |
Recommends making of map of the continent to VOC |
Heeres p 51-2 |
1627 |
J van Roosenburgh |
't Wapen Van Hoorn |
Near Dirk Hartog Island |
Revisions to map of Eendracht Land |
Heeres p 52-3 |
1628 |
Gerrit Frederikszoon De Witt |
Vianen |
NW coast |
Mapping of 370 km of NW coast |
Heeres p 54 Estensen p 155 |
1629 |
Fransisco Pelsaert |
Batavia |
De Houtman Abrolhos Islands |
June 4; Batavia Mutiny follows First European structures built in Australia (still extant); first European description of an Australian marsupial. |
Major pp 95-74 Heeres pp 58-62 |
1629 |
Fransisco Pelsaert |
Sardam |
De Houtman Abrolhos Islands |
Rescue ship of Batavia survivors |
Major pp 59-74 Heeres pp 58-62 |
1629 |
Wouter Loos, Jan Pelgrom De Bye |
small boat 16 Nov |
Mouth of Hutt River |
First European immigrants left on the mainland, fully equipped |
Heeres p 62 Schilder (app) pp 271-275 |
1635 |
Wijbrandt Geleynnsz. De Jongh |
Amsterdam |
WA around lat 25 deg S |
Charted stretch of coast |
Heeres pp 62-64 |
1636 |
G.T. Pool, Piet Pietersz. |
Klein Amsterdam, Wesel |
Gulf of Carpentaria |
Mapped NT coast |
Heeres pp 62-71 |
1636 |
Antonie Caen |
Banda |
South-west coast, Bernier Island |
Off the coast, apparently near Bernier Island, Caen made what has been interpreted as the first sighting of black swans. |
Kenny p 90 |
1642 |
Abel Janszoon Tasman |
Heemskerk' Zeehaen |
Tasmania, NW Zealand |
1st circumnavigation of Australia, claims Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) for Holland |
Heeres pp72; Schilder pp 139-205 |
1644 |
Abel Janszoon Tasman |
Limmen, Zeemeeuw, Braq |
Charts 418km of North Aust. coast |
Did not find entrance to Torres strait |
Heeres p 72 Schilder pp 139-205 |
1646 |
Sir Robert Dudley |
- |
Published in London |
First map of part of Australian coast by an Englishman (in Latin) |
Schilder pp 324-5 Map 41 |
1648 |
Jan Janszoon Zeeuw |
Leeuwerik |
Australian coast 25-26 deg. S |
Journal and charts missing. |
Heeres pp 73-74 |
1656 |
Pieter Albertszoon |
De Vergulde Draeck |
100 km N of Perth, 28 April |
Ship wrecked; 68 sailors stranded on the coast; never seen again by the Dutch despite searches. |
Heeres pp75-76 |
1656 |
? |
De Goede Hoop, De Witte Valk |
Rescue vessels searched area of the above |
Captain and crew not found, Goede Hoop lose 11 men and boat |
Heeres pp 75 |
1657 |
? |
Vinck |
Searched wreck area again |
No success |
Heeres pp 75-7 |
1658 |
Samuel Volckersen |
De Waekende Boey, Emmeloort |
Searches area again |
No success; land on mainland and Rottnest Island; made first European pictorials of Australia |
Heeres pp 76-80 |
1658 |
Abraham Leeman and 13 others |
unnamed small vessel |
Green Islets, central west coast of WA |
Abandoned by Volckersen, they managed to sail back to Java with almost no food or water, 4 arrived alive |
Henderson, J. 1985 Marooned, Perth: St George Books; Henderson,G p 27 |
1658 |
Jacob Pieterszoon Peereboom |
Elburgh |
Cape Leeuwin region, Geographe Bay |
Encounter Aborigines, tools, huts |
Heeres pp 81 |
1678 |
Jan van der Wall |
De Vliegende Zwaan |
NW Coast |
Charted NW coast from NW Cape to Roebuck Bay |
Heeres pp.81-2 |
1681 |
Capt Daniel |
London |
Northern part of De Houtman Abrolhos Islands |
First description and map of part Australia written in English |
Estensen p 141 |
1687 |
Admiral Duquesne-Guitton |
L'Oiseau |
South West Coast |
4 August 1687 Capt Duquesne Guitton in command of Lòiseau noted he was in sight of Eendracht Land. The ship was conveying a French Ambassador Claude Ceberet to the Kingdom of Siam, where he was to establish an embassy . |
Godard pp. 3-4 |
1687 |
Nicolas Gedeon de Voutron |
unknown |
Swan River |
Reported visit by unknown ship to latitude as Swan River. Voutron urged the Minister of the Navy to establish a settlement at the mouth of the river |
Godard pp. 3-4 |
1688 |
Capt Read, with William Dampier |
Cygnet |
King Sound or Collier Bay WA |
Repaired ships, stayed about 2 months |
Estensen pp 134-135 |
1694 |
Skipper Dirck de Lange, with the Hon. James Couper |
De Ridder-schap van Holland |
Possibly shipwrecked on WA coast with 326 people |
Possibly taken by pirates off Madagascar. |
Henderson,G pp 33-34 |
1696-7 |
Willem De Vlamingh |
Geelvinck, Nijptang, Weseltje |
Charts Perth region, Swan River, 80 km inland, replaced Hartog's pewter plate, charts Christmas Island on return trip; |
Artist Victorszoon made pictorials of coast |
Heeres pp.83-86 |
1699 |
William Dampier |
Roebuck |
WA Coast Dirk Hartog Island |
6 Aug. Sees bay and many sharks, named Shark Bay |
Estensen p 139 |
1704-5 |
Maarten Van Delft, Andries Rooseboom, P Hendrikszoon |
Nieuw Holland, De Waijer, Vosschen-bosch |
Arnhem land, Gulf of Carpentaria, |
extensive contacts with locals |
Heeres pp 87-88 |
1712 |
Marinus Wijsvliet |
Zuytdorp |
Found wrecked on WA coast 60 km north of mouth of Murchison River. |
Wreck+ survivor's camp sites found beginning in 1927. Coins show wreck's identity. Sur - vivors moved north, never seen again by the Dutch |
Estensen pp 203-204 Henderson G. p 35 |
1727 |
Jan Steyns |
Zeewijk |
Wrecked 9 June Houtman Abrolhos |
Sailors build Sloepie from wreck, 1st European vessel built in Australia, and sail to Java. |
Heeres p 91 |
1756 |
JE Gonzal, LL van Asschens |
Rijder, Buijs |
Gulf of Carpentaria & Cape Keer Weer |
Extensive contact with the locals |
Heeres pp 92-100 |
1768 |
Louis Antoine de Bougainville |
Boudeuse, Etoile |
Stopped 100 km from Australian coast by Great Barrier Reef |
- |
Estensen p 224 |
1770 |
James Cook |
Endeavour |
Charted East Coast from Pt Hicks to Cape York |
Claimed East Coast for England at Possession Island |
Tiley p 19 |
1772 |
François Alesno de St Allouarn |
Gros Ventre |
WA coast from Cape Leeuwin to Shark Bay and to Melville Island |
Claims Australia for France |
Tiley p 94 |
1772 |
Nicholas Thomas Marion Du Fresne |
Mascain; Marquis de Catries |
Tasmania, NW Zealand |
28 crew killed by Maoris incl. Marion. |
Tiley p 92 |
1773 |
Tobias Furneaux |
HMS Adventure |
Tasmania, Bass Strait (Furneaux Islands) |
Part of Cook's 2nd voyage. Charted the east coast of Tasmania and the Furneaux Islands. |
Furneaux pp 108-115; Howgego p256 |
1782 |
De Kermadec; Bruny d'Entrecasteaux |
- |
Sailed south of Australia |
- | - |
1788 |
Arthur Phillip |
Sirius, Supply and 9 other vessels |
Camp Cove 22 January; Sydney Cove 26 January |
= "1st Fleet" |
- |
1788 |
Jean - Francois Galaup Compte de La Pérouse |
La Boussola; L'Astrolabe |
Botany Bay |
Disappears near the Solomon's Islands |
- |
1788-89 |
William Bligh |
HMS Bounty, Bounty launch |
Tasmania, Barrier Reef, Torres Strait |
Visited Tasmania en-route to Tahiti. After Bounty Mutiny, sailed boat west and crossed the Barrier Reef at 12° 46'S and passed up the coast and by a new passage through Torres Strait north of Thursday Island. |
Feeken and Feeken pp 49-50; Howgego p 125-6 |
1789 |
John Henry Cox |
Mercury (aka Gustaf III) |
Tasmania |
A nominally Swedish expedition to explore NW coast of America, called at and charted small part of southern Tasmania /Maria Island. |
Mortimer pp 15-21; Duyker and Duyker |
1791 |
George Vancouver |
Discovery; Chatham |
South Coast of Western Australia |
Names various land marks incl King George Sound, observes Aboriginal occupation but has no direct contact |
Vancouver pp 137-151 |
1791 |
Edward Edwards |
HMS Pandora, Pandora's boat |
Barrier Reef, Torres Strait |
Returning with some of the Bounty mutineers from Tahiti, Pandora charted a northerly stretch of the Barrier reef east of Torres Strait, then was wrecked on the Reef. The survivors sailed to Timor in the boats. |
Feeken and Feeken pp 52-3; Howgego p 345 |
1791-92 |
John McClure [McCluer] |
Panther and Endeavour |
Arnhem Land coast |
East India Company captain and hydrographer, McClure surveyed in Palau and New Guinea before returning west to Benkulen via northern Australian coast. |
Howgego pp 698,888 |
1792 |
William Bligh |
HMS Providence and Assistant |
Tasmania and Torres Strait |
Visited Tasmania en-route to Tahiti on second breadfruit voyage. Passed through Torres Strait by a new route on his return voyage. |
Feeken and Feeken pp 50-1 Howgego p 126 |
1792-3 |
Antoine Bruny d'Entrecasteaux |
Recherche; Esperance |
Tasmania, Aust S coast |
Searched for La Perouse, circumnavigate Australia 1.5 times |
Duyker and Duyker; Tiley p 101 |
1795 |
George Bass; Matthew Flinders |
Tom Thumb(8 foot) |
Explore Georges River |
28 Oct-3 Nov |
Tiley p 223 |
1796 |
Bass and Flinders |
Reliance |
Sail to Norfolk Island |
Jan - Mar |
Tiley p 223 |
1796 |
Bass, Martin and Flinders |
Tom Thumb 2 |
Explore Port Kembla area |
25 March - 2 April, have contact with many Aboriginal people |
Tiley p 223 |
1797 |
Guy Hamilton |
Sydney Cove |
Wrecked Preservation Island |
3 of 18 survived |
Tiley p 71 |
1797 |
George Bass |
28 foot Whaleboat |
Finds the 3 survivors and coal near Wollongong |
5 Aug back at Sydney Cove. |
Tiley p 71 |
1797-98 |
George Bass |
28 foot Whaleboat |
Bass Strait, Twofold Bay, Shoalhaven, Western port |
Maps Gippsland Coast, finds Western Port Bay |
Tiley p 72; Howgego p 95 |
1798-99 |
Matthew Flinders, George Bass and Bungaree |
Norfolk |
Bass Straight, Tasmania, southern Queensland |
Flinders 1st trip as captain, circumnavigate Tasmania |
Flinders xcv-civ; Tiley p 73; Feeken and Feeken pp 57-8, 66; Howgego pp 386-7 |
1800, 1802 |
Lt Grant, John Murray |
Lady Nelson |
Port Phillip (Vic) to Cape Jaffa (SA) |
Chart portion of remaining part of south coast, Port Phillip Bay, Murray takes "possession" of Port Phillip Bay 8 March 1802 |
Feeken and Feeken p 66 |
1801 |
Emanuel Hamelin |
- |
Dirk Hartog Island |
His Junior Officer Louis de Freycinet finds De Vlamingh pewter plate and in 1818 returns and takes it to Paris. |
Tiley p 116 |
1801-03 |
Nicolas Baudin, Emanuel Hamelin, (Louis de Freycinet took command on return journey) |
Geographe, Naturaliste |
Chart west coast, Denial Bay, Spencer Gulf, Kangaroo Island etc. |
Abandons voyage in June, Baudin dies in August in Mauritius |
Tiley p116-133 |
1801-03 |
Matthew Flinders |
Investigator |
Chart Denial Bay, Spencer Gulf, Kangaroo Island etc. Completes charting of south coast, circumnavigates Australia charting more accurately many coasts |
Baudin and Flinders meet at Encounter Bay 8 April 1802 in Geographe and Investigator |
Tiley p 127 |
1811 |
Louis De Freycinet publishes "Atlas" |
in Paris with |
first complete map of |
Australian Coast |
including data from Baudin voyage |
1814 |
Matthew Flinders publishes "Narrative" |
In London including |
his map of Australia |
including data from |
his voyages |
Sources:
Estensen, M. 1998. Discovery - The Quest for the Great South Land Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.
Duyker, E. and Duyker, M. (eds). 2001. Bruny D'Entrecasteaux: Voyage to Australia and the Pacific 1791-1793, Miegunyah Press, Melbourne University Press, Carlton.
Flinders, Matthew, A Voyage to Terra Australis. This ebook is available from the Australian Explorers Journals page. (Includes an account of Bass and Flinders discoveries on the east coast of Australia).
Feeken, E. H. J. and Feeken, G. E. E, 1970. Discovery and Exploration of Australia, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne.
Furneaux, T. "Captain Furneaux's Narrative" in J. Cook A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World in HMS Resolution and Adventure 1772 - 1775, Volume 1, pp. 108 -115.
Godard, P 2000. French maritime history in WA. Quarterly Newsletter of the Australian Association for Maritime History, 79:3-4.
Heeres, J. E. 1899 The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765, E. J. Brill, Luzac and Co., London, Leiden, 1899.
Henderson, G. 1980. Unfinished Voyages - Western Australian Shipwrecks 1622-1850, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, W.A.
Henderson, J. 1985. Marooned, St. George Books, Perth.
Howgego, R. J. 2003. Encylcopedia of Exploration to 1800, Hordern House, Potts Point, NSW.
Kenny, J. 1995. Before the First Fleet: Europeans in Australia 1606 - 1777, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, NSW.
Major, R. H. 1859. Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Hakluyt Society, London.
Mortimer, G. 1791. Observations and Remarks Made During a Voyage to the Islands of Teneriffe, Amsterdam, Maria Islands Near Van Dieman's Land, Author, London.
Mutch, T. D. 1942. The first discovery of Australia with an account of the voyage of the "Duyfken" and career of Captain Willem Jansz. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 28(5):303-352.
Schilder, G. 1976. Australia Unveiled: The Share of the Dutch Navigators in the Discovery of Australia, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Amsterdam.
Sigmond, L. and Zuiderbaan, L. H. 1995. Dutch Discoveries of Australia: Shipwrecks, Treasures, and Early Voyages Off the West Coast, Batavia Lion, Amsterdam.
Tiley, R. 2002. Australian Navigators, Kangaroo Press, Roseville, NSW.
Vancouver, G. 1802. A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Around the World 1790-1795, John Stockdale, London, Volume 1.
Mike Dash, 2002. Batavias Graveyard, Phoenix, London.
A Van Iterson, 1997. Sector, Firm and Management Performance in The Netherlands: The role of National Governance and Institution, NIBOR, University of Maastricht, Paper to EMOT conference in Berlin.
Peter Reynders, 2002. The Dutch United East India Company (VOC), Australian Sea Heritage, Journal of Australias Maritime Museums, Spring 2002, pp15-19 & 34.
F Gaastra, 2002. The Geschiedenis van de VOC, Walburg Pers, Zutphen.
Els M Jacobs, 1991. Varen om Peper and Thee, Nederlands Scheepvaart
Museum/ Amsterdam and Walburg Pers/Zutphen.