Significant People People Significant inAUSTRALIA’S HISTORY Contents in Significant People Significant People in Australia’s History profiles the people who brought HISTORY AUSTRALIA’S about important events or changes to Australian society through their in History makers 4 knowledge, actions or achievements. Explore the fascinating story of Australia, AUSTRALIA’S HISTORY Early sea exploration 5 A snapshot of history 6 from its ancient Indigenous past to the present day, through the biographies of Macassan visitors 8 these significant people. Portuguese and Spanish exploration 10 Vo Pedro de Quirós, Portuguese navigator 12 lume 2 Luis de Torres, Spanish navigator 13 Each volume focuses on a particular Special features include: Dutch exploration 14 Volume 2 Volume period in Australia’s history and includes: ‘life facts’ mini timeline Willem Jansz, Dutch navigator 16 Life Facts background information about the of each person’s life Dirk Hartog, Dutch navigator 18 1580 Born in Holland 1606–1803 featured time period and achievements 1615 Becomes commander Frederick de Houtman, Dutch navigator 19 a timeline of main events of the Eendrach 1606 1616 Lands on the western Jan Carstensz, Dutch navigator 20 ‘more about …’ Morecoast about of Australia ... illustrated biographies of a wide range – 1803 Dutch navigator 22 information boxes Dirk Hartog1618 Island Returns to the François Thijssen, Netherlands on the of significant people Hartog had landed in an area that was about related Eendrach Gerrit de Witt, Dutch navigator 23 home to the Malkana people, near Early a glossary of terms * events and places modern-day Shark Bay in Western Australia. Early Sea Exploration Abel Tasman, Dutch navigator 24 The place where Hartog left the metal a comprehensive index. plate is now called Cape Inscription and Willem de Vlamingh, Dutch navigator 26 the island is called Dirk Hartog Island. ‘see also’ Sea British and French exploration 28 cross-references to William Dampier, British navigator 30 relevant information The nine volumes in the series are: James Cook, British navigator 32 in other entries. Exploration Joseph Banks, British botanist 36 Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne, French navigator 37 Jean-François Lapérouse, French navigator 38 Louis François de Saint Aloüarn, French navigator 40 Antoine Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, French navigator 41 Nicolas Baudin, French navigator 42 George Bass, British explorer 43 Rees Barrett Rees Matthew Flinders, British navigator 44 Bungaree, Indigenous explorer 46 Glossary 47 Index 48 Glossary words When a word is written in bold, click on Rees Barrett it to find its meaning. History makers Early sea exploration Significant People in Australia’s History is about those men and women who have Volume 2: Early Sea Exploration 1606–1803 includes biographies of the people contributed remarkably to Australia’s identity and heritage. They are significant who were significant in the search for the ‘unknown southern land’ between because they were pioneers in their field or because their knowledge, actions or 1606 and 1803. Most of these people were European navigators. They were the achievements brought about important events or changes in Australian society. first Europeans to see Australia and make contact with Indigenous Australians. They represent the wide range of people who have contributed to the story They named many places on Australia’s coast during their voyages, and their of Australia. expeditions led to the colonisation of Australia by Britain. This series describes the history of Australia, from Indigenous beginnings to modern-day Australia, through the life stories of these significant people. Each An unknown continent in the south volume consists of biographies of people from a particular period in Australia’s In ancient times, Greek and Roman geographers believed there was a great history or descriptions of Indigenous Australian cultural groups. continent to the south that was equal in area to the northern continents. Geographers study and map the surface of the Earth. They called this land Terra Australis Incognita, meaning ‘unknown southern land’. Many European explorers were sent to the southern seas in search of this land. Portuguese and Dutch navigators first saw Australian shores in 1606. Nearly 200 years later, British navigators completed mapping the coast and found that Terra Australis was an island continent and not part of a larger southern land. From the 1400s onwards, European ships explored the world’s oceans, looking for wealth and trade. 4 5 A snapshot of history 1606–1803 From the early 1400s onwards, European Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French and British A Dutch map from nations looked beyond their own lands for navigators began to explore the southern oceans. 1661 shows part of the wealth. They began to build trading empires They found a major landmass to the south of coast of New Holland. that stretched around the globe. In 1453, Asia. They charted sections of its coast and Islamic Turks took control of Constantinople, added them to their maps, but the parts of this the port at the start of the important trade land that they saw seemed to be barren and route between Europe and Asia called the Silk inhospitable. It was only after the American Road. Maritime explorers began to look for a Revolutionary War, when Britain needed sea route between Europe and Asia. In 1488, more land to house convicts, that Europeans Portuguese Bartolomeu Diaz was the first to began to colonise this land. sail from Europe to Asia around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. 1606–1803 1606 Portuguese and Spanish explorers search 1642 Dutch navigator Abel Tasman discovers 1766–69 Louis Antoine de Bougainville sails 1788 The British fleet known as the First Fleet for Terra Australis Incognita. Pedro De Van Diemen’s Land, now called Tasmania, around the world for France. He sails close arrives in Botany Bay, aiming to establish Quirós and Luis de Torres come close but and claims it for the Dutch. Tasman goes to the north-eastern coast of Australia, but a penal colony for Britain’s convicts. Soon do not sight the mainland. on to discover New Zealand. turns north before sighting land. after, French navigator Jean-François Lapérouse arrives in Botany Bay. First recorded sighting of the southern 1688 British explorer William Dampier is 1770 British explorer James Cook maps the land is made by Dutch explorer Willem wrecked on the north-western coast eastern coast of Australia. He lands at 1792 French navigator Antoine Bruni Jansz. First contact is made between of Australia. His memoirs become a Botany Bay and claims the land for D’Entrecasteaux charts the southern coast Europeans and Indigenous Australians. bestseller in Britain. He visits Australia for a King George III, naming it New South Wales. of Australia. second time in 1699. He is accompanied by botanist 1616–97 Dutch explorers call the land they 1797–98 British explorer George Bass explores the Joseph Banks. see ‘New Holland’. They make many Around 1720s Macassan fishermen begin south-eastern coast of New South Wales in expeditions to chart the coast. Dirk to make annual trips to the shores of 1772 French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion a whaleboat. Hartog, Frederick de Houtman, Jan northern Australia in trading fleets from Dufresne lands at Van Diemen’s Land. 1798 British navigator Matthew Flinders Carstensz, François Thijssen, Gerrit De Witt Macassar, now part of Indonesia. The Louis François de Saint Aloüarn claims New circumnavigates Van Diemen’s Land. and Willem de Vlamingh chart parts of fishermen camp on land and interact Holland for France. the northern, western and south-western with the local Indigenous peoples. 1801–03 Flinders circumnavigates Australia, 1775–83 American colonists rebel against British coasts. accompanied by Indigenous Australian 1756–63 France and Britain fight on opposing rule during the American Revolutionary explorer Bungaree. He meets French 1619 The Dutch East India Company, a trading sides in the Seven Years’ War. Britain War. France and Spain side with America. navigator Nicolas Baudin off the coast company that protects Dutch trading in finishes the war as the greatest naval Britain loses the war and is no longer able of southern Australia. They name their the Indian Ocean, establishes a base at power in Europe. British and French to send its convicts to America. meeting place Encounter Bay. Batavia, now called Jakarta, in Indonesia. navigators compete to discover and control lands in the Pacific. 6 7 Macassan visitors From the early 1700s, Indonesian fishermen from the port of Macassar visited Australia and traded with Indigenous Australians. It is possible that these encounters also happened earlier than this, but there are no written records. The port of Macassar was located on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and is now known as Ujung Pandang. Macassar was the centre of a very important industry in which sea cucumbers were exported to China. Sea cucumbers, also called trepang and bêche-de-mer, are a delicacy in Asia. Fishing for sea cucumbers Macassan fishermen boil sea cucumber at a camp in northern Australia in 1845. Macassan fishermen collected sea cucumbers from the shallow, tropical waters of northern Australia. Each summer, they sailed their fleets of boats 2000 kilometres to fish the waters off Miwatj, called Arnhem Land by the Dutch. Impact on the Yolngu The Macassans sailed a boat they called a parahus. It had sails made from matted The Indigenous Australians who lived along the coast of Arnhem Land were the palm leaf and two steering oars. One parahus could carry about 5000 kilograms of Yolngu people. Sometimes, the Macassans fought with local people. At other times, dried sea cucumber. there were friendly relationships between the Macassans and Yolngu. Some Yolngu The Macassan fishermen camped onshore in Australia.T hey used stones to build women married Macassan fishermen. Some people travelled back to Macassar with fireplaces and they boiled the sea cucumbers in large iron cauldrons.T hen, they the fishermen.