Australian beginnings

Background
Matthew Flinders was born the oldest son of a surgeon-apothecary in the market town of Donington, Lincolnshire, in 1774. When Flinders was young he dreamed of wealth and fame, while reading of exotic locations in Robinson Crusoe and conscious of complaints by his father about their lack of money.
Matthew Flinders refused to follow in the footsteps of his father into medical practice. Instead he decided to pursue a career in the Royal Navy, where there was the prospect of prize money and the chance to make a name for himself.
When Flinders was fifteen years old he joined the H.M.S ALERT in October 1789, as a Lieutenant’s servant. In 1791 he sailed with Captain Bligh on the Providence and later with Captain Hunter. During the late 1790’s Flinders’ sailed to Australia and established him as a first class navigator, an excellent cartographer and a man of determination. Flinders was a self-educated navigator.
Matthew Flinders was a diminutive man at just 167 cm; ...