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Posted by admin in Uncategorized on 13. Nov, 2010 | Comments Off
“Australia on the Map” (AOTM) is the history and heritage division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society (AHS). This website consequently focusses on important themes in Australian hydrographic history and heritage. This includes maritime exploration and the mapping of Australia, and where relevant, New Zealand.
The Australia on the Map Division is the successor organisation to “Australia on the Map: 1606-2006”, which was established in 2002 as an independent organisation to organise, promote and coordinate a nationwide event program in 2006 as part of the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of European contact with this continent in 1606.
As an educational resource this website, which is compiled and maintained by volunteers, is constantly being upgraded and incorporating new features. It has some documents and databases relevant to the unveiling of Australia and New Zealand to the world , the charting of its coasts and their appearance on maps from the 17th to the 19th centuries. It also provides access to some of the research and writings of AOTM’s members and news on relevant events.
NOTE: The Australia on the Map Division is a purely voluntary organisation which does not employ any staff.
Posted by admin in News on 29. Apr, 2012 | No Comments
Anyone with information on the Deadwater Wreck http://www.australiaonthemap.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MediaRelease-AnyInformationontheDeadwaterWreck.doc
Posted by admin in News on 18. Apr, 2012 | No Comments
Download MapMatters17
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 25. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
The Freycinet map was published in Paris in 1811, and was the first map to be published which showed the full outline of Australia as such, preceding Matthew Flinders’ map ‘Terra Australis or Australia’ by three years. The Freycinet map was the product of centuries of the charting of Australia’s coasts by Dutch, English and French 
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 24. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
Emeritus Professor Margaret Sankey Professor Margaret Sankey’s research career in French Studies has been devoted to the study of the history of ideas and mentalités in France, with particular reference to the early modern period and the scientific revolution. She has published extensively in key areas of interest: Cyrano de Bergerac’s novels and the transmission
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 23. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
His Excellency M. Michel Filhol Clausewitz said that “war was politics by other means.” Hydrography too, at least at the turn of the 19th century, was politics by other means. The case of Freycinet/Flinders is a perfect illustration. Today, the echoes are muffled. Muffled but not totally silenced, so that we can imagine the vivacity of
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 22. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie AO RANR Today’s symposium to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of the first map of Australia has been arranged through the good offices of the French Embassy here in Canberra, the National Library of Australia and the Australia on the Map Division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society. We are
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 21. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
Margaret Sankey The initiative of Rupert Gerritsen, Chairman of the Australia on the Map division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society, in organising this symposium to celebrate the bicentenary of the publication of Louis Freycinet’s 1811 map of New Holland underscores the too often unrecognized contribution made by the French to the early exploration of Australia.
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 20. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
Jean Fornasiero and John West-Sooby Every picture tells a story, and this is no less true of maps and charts than it is of other types of images. As pictorial representations, maps and charts are in fact particularly strong sources of narrative since their common functions include reproducing the itinerary of a journey or illustrating
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 19. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
Wolf Mayer Introduction The second half of the eighteens century and the early decades of the nineteenth saw an heightened interest by European governments, particularly those of France and Great Britain, in the wider Pacific region, including Australia. More than a dozen expeditions, commanded by outstanding navigators that included James Cook, Antoine de Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, Matthew
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 18. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
Gregory C. Eccleston Monsieur l’ambassadeur de France. Mesdames, mesdemoiselles, messieurs… Bonjour !!!!!! Si nous sommes reunis aujourd’hui dans cette salle, ce n’est pas pour célèbrer l’union de deux êtres, mais belle est bien pour célèbrer le bicentenaire de la première publication de la carte de l’Australie. Je m’appelle Greg ECCLESTON. This is a brief story of
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 17. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
The Freycinets’ Australian connections Henry de Saulses de Freycinet When the French are spoken of, in or around Australia, the first name that comes to mind is “La Pérouse” or “d’Entrecasteaux”. This shows that there is a large gap in knowledge of French expeditions and involvement in the Australian history, in my view. Indeed
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 16. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
Peter Reynders and Rupert Gerritsen The Freycinet map of Nouvelle Hollande is generally recognised as the first full map of Australia to be published. But was it the first and was it published in 1811 making this year, 2011, the bicentenary of its publication. In historical context the map is the culmination of
Posted by admin in Freycinet Map 1811 on 15. Mar, 2012 | No Comments
Dr Martin Woods, Curator of Maps, National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia is fortunate to have an extensive collection of printed and manuscript material, cartography, correspondence, drawings and other works produced as a result or in the course of many of the French Asia-Pacific voyages of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
Posted by admin in News on 27. Dec, 2011 | No Comments
Download MapMatters16
Posted by admin in News on 11. Sep, 2011 | No Comments
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Posted by admin in News on 02. Jun, 2011 | No Comments
Presented by Australia on the Map Division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society in association with the Embassy of France This year marks the bicentenary of the publication of the first map of Australia, compiled by French navigator and cartographer Louis de Freycinet. The map, published in Paris in 1811, showed the full outline of Australia
Posted by admin in News on 17. Apr, 2011 | No Comments
This fantactic new map shows the routes that the historical mariners of Australia’s early maritime contact history took as they sailed through Bass Strait.
Posted by admin in Journeys on 24. Mar, 2011 | No Comments
Abel Janszoon Tasman
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on 13. Sep, 2010 | Comments Off
Site Under Reconstruction
Posted by admin in Media Releases on 06. Dec, 2009 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in Background Papers on 06. May, 2008 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in Background Papers on 06. May, 2008 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in Background Papers on 18. Apr, 2008 | No Comments
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-
Posted by admin in Background Papers on 17. Dec, 2007 | No Comments
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,
Posted by admin in Latest on 28. Nov, 2007 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in Background Papers on 25. Aug, 2007 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in Background Papers on 25. Aug, 2007 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in Background Papers on 25. Aug, 2007 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in Background Papers on 25. Aug, 2007 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in Latest on 05. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in History of Australia on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
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.
Posted by admin in History of Australia on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
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.
Posted by admin in History of Australia on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in History of Australia on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
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
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
Although part of the south coast, from Cape Leeuwin to around Fowlers Bay, was first mapped in 1627, there are no documented accounts of any visits until Vancouver entered King Georges Sound on 29 September 1791, staying until 11 October 1791. While extensive investigation were undertaken in the area, and signs of Aboriginal occupation, such
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
pp. 308-10 [Botany Bay, 3-4 May 1770] PARAPHRASE – Numerous fleeting interactions took place. p.315 [Point Plomer?, 12 May 1770] Several smooks seen a little way in land. p.315 [Smoky Cape, 13 May 1770] a point or headland on which were fires that caused a great quantity of smook which occasioned me giving it the
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
2:91-3,95-98 [11-13,17-19,22 July 1770] CONFLICT arises on 19/7/70 [2:96-7] over refusal of crew of Endeavour to share turtles they had caught – fires started, shots fired. Journal – Recording Mariner: James Cook J C Beaglehole (ed.) 1969 The Journals of Captain James Cook on his Voyage of Discovery: Volume 1, The Voyage of the Endeavour
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
2:56-60 [30 April – 4 May] PARAPHRASE – Numerous fleeting interactions took place 2:62-3 [north coast of NSW, 15 May 1770] we observed them [20 people] with glasses for near an hour… Not one was once observd (pp)63 to stop and look towards the ship … unmovd by the neighbourhood of so remarkable an object
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
Documentary Source other than original Journal Mahroot 1845 “Report from the Select Committee on the Condition of the Aborigines: Evidence of Mahroot, alias the Boatswain” NSW Legislative Council Votes and Proceedings 1845 in K Willey 1979 When the Sky Fell Down Sydney: Collins, pp.51-2. pp.51-2 They [the Dharug] thought they [the British] was the devil
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
[North West Cape to Cape Londonderry] Tasman’s Voyage of 1643 Documentary Source other than original Journal Witsen, N 1705 Noord en Ooste Tartarye, Amsterdam: Francois Halma, pp.175-6. p.175 In latitude 190 35’ and longitude 1340 natives who appeared in great numbers threw stones at the people the Dutch sent ashore in 1643; these people were
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
Blackman Bay and East Coast of Tasmania 1642 Tasman’s Voyage of 1642 Journal – Abel Tasman Tasman, A J 1898 Abel Janszoon Tasman’s Journal, J E Heeres (comp. and trans.), Amsterdam: Frederick Muller. p.15 [Report of Pilot-Major and Second Mate, 2 December 1642] They [shore party] had heard certain human sounds, and also sounds nearly
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
[Cape Londonderry to Norman River] Gulf of Carpentaria and Arnhem Land The coast of Arnhem Land was mapped by the Dutch in the “Arnhem” skippered at that stage by Willem van Coolsteerdt in 1623 but there are no accounts of what transpired during that section of their voyage. Voyage of Klein Amsterdam and Wesel 1636
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
Elburgh 1658 Documentary Source other than original Journals “Letter of the Governor-General and Council to the Managers of the VOC December 14, 1658” in J E Heeres 1899 The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia, London: Luzac and Co., p.81. p.81 the skipper, together with one of the steersmen, the sergeant
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
[Cape Leeuwin to North West Cape] Central and Upper West Coast 1629 – 1697 The Voyage of the Batavia Journal – Francisco Pelsaert Recording Navigator: F Pelsaert 1629 “The Journals of Francisco Pelsaert” in H Drake-Brockman 1982 Voyage to Disaster, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, pp.107-254. pp.129-30 [240, Red Bluff area area, 14 June 1629] [Our
Posted by admin in First Contacts on 03. Jun, 2007 | No Comments
RELATING TO: The Voyage of the Duyfken – Willem Janszoon (Master) and Jan Lodewijkszoon van Rosingeyn (Supercargo) , West Cape York, Queensland, 1606. Documentary Sources other than original Journals Recording Navigator: J Carstenszoon 1623, taken from: “Summary abstract of the Journal of the … voyage of discovery … with the yachts Pera and Aernem” in
