1644 Abel Janszoon Tasman
Abel Janszoon Tasman
Author: Admin
Translation opens window to Australia’s past
MEDIA RELEASE 7 December 2009 Translation opens window to Australia’s past The document that led to the first Europeans to visit and chart Australia’s coast, and the country’s first European residents, is now available on the net, for the first time, in English. “Today, we are launching the translation of the Charter of the Verenigde[…]
Dutch Claims
Dutch claims to New Holland and the British colonization in 1788 November 1786 saw the publication of An Historical Narrative of the Discovery of New Holland and New South Wales, which sought to explain the reasons for the British Government’s decision to establish a settlement at Botany Bay. Although the book was published anonymously, the[…]
Jean Pierre
Jean Pierre Purry’s proposal to colonize the Land of Nuyts. As a servant of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia in 1717, Jean Pierre Purry had proposed the settlement of Nuyts Land, the present South and South West Australia. He considered Leeuwin and Edels Lands to be islands, and included them among the[…]
New Holland and the British Colony at Botany Bay
Georg Forster Neuholland und die brittische Colonie in Botany-Bay New Holland and the British Colony at Botany Bay Translated into English Robert J. King 2008 Manuscript completed by Georg Forster on 20 November 1786. Re-published in Georg Forster’s Kleine Schriften: Ein Beytrag zur Völker-[…]
Mapping for Societal Memory: from Duyfken to Digital
Out there she is moored, the Duyfken. Of course, it is a replica, or rather a reconstruction.[i] Nevertheless thousands of people come on board, to relive the past. The past, by its very nature, is gone. The past is invisible. What are visible are traces. The objects we preserve and exhibit, the monuments we view,[…]
Duyfken is in Cairns
The Duyfken Replica Foundation has secured a three year contract for the Australian replica of the historic vessel to be moored at the tourist town of Cairns, Queensland. It may enable the DRF to raise some funds for the maintenance of the ship from tourists inspecting the ship. A program of day sailing is being considered also, whilst the 16th century Dutch yacht replica can also be hired for parties, receptions etc on board.
“When on holidays in Northern Queensland there is now a great opportunity to visit the first ship”, the DRF’s Manager Mr Cian Pereira, said. “Interesting enough we sailed into Cairns in 2006 to help commemorate the 400 year anniversary of the original Duyfken coming to Australia as the first European ship to do so, hardly anybody came to welcome the ship. Steve Irwin had just died and the town was in mourning and preparing for his funeral that day”, Mr Pereira said. “The local Mayor came out quickly on his own to welcome the ship. Now we have another “three way contract” with his Council and the Queensland Government to stay here for three years. The 2006 voyage of the Duyfken visiting 23 Australian ports was also a three way contract, then between Australia on the Map 1606-2006, the Federal Department of Environment and Heritage and the DFR”.
The misunderstood Patronimic- Jansz or Janszoon
Surnames, in the meaning of family names, were relatively uncommon in the United Provinces (Holland) in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Most people identified themselves using patronymics- a reference to the first name of their father- as a second name. They were registered as such at birth. Willem Janszoon would have been the son[…]
First French Contact With Australia – 1687
Ian Edwards 2002 Headlines of History: A Chronicle of Western Australian History (Perth?, Flying Fish Ventures) p. 9 Visit by French Vessel L’Oiseau 4 August 1687 En route from Cape of Good Hope to Thailand, the French ship L’Oiseau, under the command of Admiral Duquesne-Guitton … sighted the coast of “Terre de la Concorde” (New[…]
1421 and all that junk
Introduction Gavin Menzies is the author of a very successful book, entitled 1421: The year China discovered the world, published first in 2002. There have been subsequent editions in paperback. Many members of the community of scholars who specialize in the history of cartography have criticized this text severely. This lecture reviews some of the[…]
Swedish involvement in early Australian history
Swedish Crew Members on Dutch Ships 1600s & 1700s There were Swedish crew members on Dutch ships visiting Australia in 1600s and 1700s. Solander with Captain Cook 1770 Swedish born Daniel Solander sailed in the Endeavour, as Assistant Botanist under Banks, when Captain Cook mapped the east coast of Australia in 1770. Discovery of Norfolk[…]
New AHS region makes history
As the organisation formed to promote the 400 year anniversary of mapping Australia—Australia on the Map 1606-2006—winds up, a new AHS region has been formed to promote the history of mapping and hydrography.
A well-attended meeting of AHS members (many of whom are new AHS members who had recently served on the former Australia on the Map 1606-2006 committee), voted unanimously to form a region to be known as theAustralia on the Map Division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society.
The meeting also elected Rupert Gerritsen as Chair of the Australia on the Map Division (AMD) and Peter Reynders as the Secretary–Treasurer.
“Like its ‘1606-2006’ predecessor,” Rupert Gerritsen explained. “The AHS’s Australia on the Map Division will be outward looking and inclusive. We’d like as many AHS members to be involved as possible.
“While initially we’ll be meeting monthly in Canberra, that shouldn’t put anyone off. Our experience with 1606-2006 shows that, with email and Internet, distance is no barrier to participation and organisation.”
Judging by the lively discussion at the inaugural meeting — and the range of backgrounds and interests its membership already has—we can expect AMD to soon be fostering many activities and individual projects ranging from serious historical research to events popularising the understanding of early maritime history.
To get involved in AMD or for more information contact Peter Reynders on (02) 62820064 or via email here
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Australia since federation
AUSTRALIA SINCE FEDERATION, begins with the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 as an independent nation. (Note it was not an ‘end of the colony’ where the colonists returned to the home country and left the land to the indigenous people as later happened elsewhere). Shortly after women gained the right to vote.[…]
The Colonial Era
THE COLONIAL ERA, includes the exploratory expeditions into the interior and the slow and often painful contact history on land. It starts with the arrival of the first fleet on the 26 January 1788, in Sydney, lead by Arthur Phillip, to establish a penal colony. This was the main reason for the initial British settlement.[…]
The Australian maritime contact period
THE AUSTRALIAN MARITIME CONTACT PERIOD is a most exciting but not well known period, starting in 1606, when the first European mariners sailed into Australian water, recording their observations of this land and the residents they encountered. Every Australian should know the name of Willem Janszoon and his ship Duyfken, the first recorded ship and[…]
Before any of our history was written down
BEFORE ANY OF OUR HISTORY WAS WRITTEN DOWN the Original Australians lived here for more than 40.000 years. They may be the oldest continuous population in the world. Many hunted and gathered for their livelihood, some lived in semi-permanent villages. They arrived here from the North, group after group and occupied the continent. Occasionally they[…]