Why he chose Mauritius over Cape sailing ship to pieces. Though reading Dafoe s Robinson Crusoe at an early age greatly influenced

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1 INTRO Why he chose Mauritius over Cape sailing ship to pieces. Cook as Ideal Though reading Dafoe s Robinson Crusoe at an early age greatly influenced Matthew Flinders, Captain Cook s explorations provided a more tangible career model and idealized persona. 1 More than any other explorer during the eighteenth century, Cook s explorations were signposts and benchmarks for both individuals and states. The collections and data generated by the Cook voyages, together with the Banksian institutionalization of this new knowledge, transformed European perceptions and experiences of the Pacific. The cartographic methods Cook used to survey coasts across the Pacific Ocean brought riches and prestige to himself and his patrons. 2 Publishing voyage accounts expanded an already important section of the reading public, and helped linked together the role of author and explorers. Even if Cook and others were not totally responsible for every aspect of their publishing, it helped solidify their importance to the larger community. 3 Both naval officers and British society as a whole praised and idealized Cook. Even if his accomplishments were unique, actors still emulated Cook s accomplishments and style. What Cook achieved provided a benchmark for Matthew Flinders, a hero and target that could not take into account the spatial and temporal distance between Cook s situation and his own. 1 Nicholas Tracy, editor, The Naval Chronicle: The Contemporary Record of Her Royal Navy at War, Vol. V, , (Chatham Publishing: London, 1988), pg. 13. See also David Mackay, In the Shadow of Cook: the Ambition of Matthew Flinders, pg. 99, in John Hardy and Alan Frost, editors, European Voyaging Towards Australia, (Highland Press: Canberra, 1990), pg Gascoigne, Ballantyne, Wilson, Frost, Smith, Williams et al 3 Philip Edwards, The Story of the Voyage: Sea Narratives in Eighteenth-Century England, (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1994), pg. 7.

2 Flinders desired to achieve Cook-like status from very early in his career, but his experiences departed from Cook s in several important respects. Flinders career as a navigator in the Royal Navy, connections with Banks and other powerful institutions and interests in imperial Britain, and difficulties in securing a passport, reveal key moments in Flinders development as the new Cook. Motivated by a keen sense of ambition, Flinders modeled his voyages and surveying missions after Cook s: the Investigator s mission focused especially on those parts which Captain Cook had passed in the night, or that the urgency of his situation did not permit him to examine. 4 Flinders conceived of himself as the surveyor to finish Cook s tasks. In addition, Flinders also maintained a sense of the historical significances of Cook s voyages. 5 Moreover, Cook s importance extended beyond the boundaries of a ship. The collections and data generated by Cook s voyages awoke Europeans to the possibilities and promises offered by the Pacific; trade, national rivalry, and Enlightenment curiosity followed Cook s ships as easily as syphilis and disease. The general success of the three voyages, Cook s subsequent apotheosis, and the long-term institutional effects of Cook s shipboard companions served to ingrain Cook as a model Enlightenment and British figure simultaneously. 6 Flinders absorbed Cook s influence at a more personal level as well. Though he belonged to the first generation of surveying captains not to serve directly with Cook, many of his captains did. His first posting outside of British waters was with William Bligh s second effort to transport breadfruit from Tahiti to the Caribbean. Ultimately successful, it also provided Flinders with the opportunity to learn first-hand from one of 4 Matthew Flinders, Terra Australis, pg 6 5 See HRNSW vol 5 pg 397, and long quotation that begins I have too much ambition Also, passage from 134 of Voyage when he describes his role as completing what Cook could not. See Mackay, Flinders. 6 Some Cook biographies and studies Beaglehole, Thomas, Salmond

3 the best navigators and surveyors of the period. Just as Bligh refined his craft aboard the final Cook voyage, so too did Flinders greatly advance his skills with Bligh. By the conclusion of the voyage, Flinders was responsible for keeping the chronometer, and kept and updated the many charts that the voyage produced. Flinders complained to his family at the time, and later to Banks, about Bligh s obsession with the breadfruit plants to the detriment of the men, but there is no denying how formative Bligh was to Flinders later hydrographic reputation. Tellingly, however, the men ended the voyage on bad terms, which continued through the Bligh s governorship of New South Wales. Angered by Bligh s refusal to acknowledge the work he put into the charts, Flinders was also frustrated by the more general Royal Navy practice of ship captains collecting the official logs and journals kept by their officers in order to flesh out the official reports. 7 In addition to being a matter of scientific priority and credit, which Flinders thought was his to earn, Bligh s use of Flinders journals was also a financial matter. Though the policy was designed so that the Admiralty could gain a fuller account of a particular voyage, in actuality it gave the captain a leg-up in publishing any narrative of the voyage, and thus reaping the financial gain that resulted from the public s growing interests in these journals. 8 Flinders father commented on the financial factors at play in Bligh s editorial practices; these same issues would return as critical factors in Flinders later career. While Flinders family by no means struggled economically, Flinders sense of ambition demanded the financial and institutional recognition that followed on naval and scientific success. The one was the expression of the other. On Matthew Flinders final visit to his 7 Flinders, Sr. Account book, Folio 51. See also George Mackness, The Life of Vice-Admiral William Bligh, R.N., F.R.S., (Angus and Robertson: London, 1931), pgs. 235, HRNSW, Vol VI, See also Dening, Edwards, Clayton, narrative studies from 18 th cent RN.

4 parents prior to departing with Bligh, Flinders father pressed him to keep an exact journal in the hopes that such a publication would be advantageous, and expressed the hope that if successful, this voyage may be a great means of promotion. 9 From early on, then, Flinders recognized the links between an officer s publication and his prospects for recognition and promotion. Flinders later letters bear out this concern: many of his letters from captivity speak to his continued hope for promotion, and he petitioned unsuccessfully upon his eventual return to London to be promoted and collect back-pay for the six years he spent imprisoned. Indeed, Flinders decision to sail with Bligh and begin being educated in navigation and surveying is indicative his broader desire for promotion and success. By joining Bligh, Flinders gave up a posting aboard a ship of the line, the Bellerophon, and the steady patronage of that ship s commander, who was also a commodore in the Royal Navy. Why did Flinders actively seek such a move? Any explanation hinges on two related factors: the uncertainty of the size and mission of the Royal Navy in 1791, and the opportunity presented by surveying missions for advancement. The threat of the French Revolution, and eventually Napoleon, had not fully manifested itself, and thus the opportunities for promotion were limited it was only during wartime, when the number and demand for men and commands increased, that most officers were promoted. Sailing with Bligh provided Flinders the chance to prove his qualities in a vastly different arena, and promised success in part because of a simple lack of competition. 10 Learning another skill set would bring Flinders to the attention of powerful men in London and the far- 9 Flinders, Sr. Account book, Folio See parallels with RF Scott in the 1890 s. During peacetime, RN officers found science and technology a more productive career path. See also JW Norie, editor, The Naval Gazetteer, Biographer and Chronologist, (JW Norie and Co.: London, 1827), pg. 125: being fonder of voyages of discovery than the regular routine of service.

5 flung edges of empire, and set his career moving down a very different path. When Flinders with Bligh in 1794, he transferred back to his old ship, the Bellerophon, only long enough to participate in the Glorious First of June. By August, despite the open state of war and the increase of Royal Navy opportunities in Britain, Flinders had already joined another voyage towards the Pacific. 11 Sailing to New South Wales, and putting to use the skills he learned from Bligh, brought together his ambition both for his career and finances and his scientific skills and curiosity. 11 Geoffrey C. Ingleton, Matthew Flinders, Navigator and Chartmaker, (Genesis Publication Limited in association with Hedley Australia: Guildford, England, 1986), pg. 21.

Hugh D. Halkett Fonds

Hugh D. Halkett Fonds Dates of Creation: 1920-2001 Physical Extent: 13 cm. of textual records 482 photographs; b&w/colour; 1.5x2 8x10 8 books (processed into VMM Library collection) Biographical History: Hugh D. Halkett was