Skip to main content
Menu

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

The Gallery’s Acknowledgement of Country, and information on culturally sensitive and restricted content and the use of historic language in the collection can be found here.

Captain Matthew Flinders RN

1814
an unknown artist and Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office (publisher)

stipple engraving on paper (sheet: 23.6 cm x 14.5 cm, image: 9.5 cm x 7.9 cm)

Matthew Flinders (1774–1814), navigator, entered the British navy at the age of fifteen. At twenty he sailed for Sydney on the same ship as surgeon George Bass, with whom he later made his first exploratory excursions in New South Wales, and with whom, in 1798–1799, he proved Van Diemen’s Land to be an island. Having returned to England, he set out again in 1801 on the Investigator, reaching Western Australia in December. Mapping the entire southern coast, he arrived in Port Jackson in May 1802. On 22 July he headed north, making detailed surveys of Queensland’s coastline and islands on his increasingly unseaworthy vessel. With him was Bungaree, whom Flinders later described as ‘a native, whose good disposition and manly conduct attracted my esteem’. They limped into Port Jackson on 9 June 1803. A few weeks later Flinders sailed for England as a passenger on HMS Porpoise to secure a suitable ship to continue his explorations. Porpoise struck a reef and was lost, but Flinders navigated its cutter more than 1127 kilometres back to Sydney and its crew was saved. In December 1803, returning to England, Flinders was forced to take port in Mauritius, where he was detained until 1810 under suspicion of being an English spy. Having returned to England at last, he wrote up his findings under the title A Voyage to Terra Australis. The day after its publication, he died. His grave, the whereabouts of which was long a mystery, was discovered beneath Euston Station, London, in January 2019 during archaeological surveys pending construction of a high-speed railway.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

Artist and subject

Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office

Captain Matthew Flinders (age 40 in 1814)

Donated by

Loretta Pash (40 portraits)

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency