Matthew Flinders (1774-1814) was an English navigator and cartographer who charted much of the coastline of Australia. He was the first to circumnavigate the continent and to give it the name Australia. He also wrote the first detailed account of the country, A Voyage to Terra Australis. Flinders was born in Donington, Lincolnshire, England. He joined the Royal Navy in 1789 and served in the Napoleonic Wars. In 1801, he was appointed to lead an expedition to chart the coastline of Australia. He sailed around the continent twice, and in 1814 published A Voyage to Terra Australis, which was the first detailed account of the country. Flinders died in 1814, but his legacy lives on in the many places named after him, including Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, Flinders Island in Tasmania, and Flinders Ranges in South Australia. He is remembered as one of the most important figures in the exploration and mapping of Australia.
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