A well circulated note.
Paper quality is no longer crisp due to handling.
Creasing, soiling and fading of the ink.
A good collection filler at about Fine grade.
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Obverse: Captain Matthew Flinders RN (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent. He survived shipwreck and disaster only to be imprisoned for violating the terms of his scientific passport by changing ships and carrying prohibited papers. He identified and corrected the effect upon compass readings of iron components and equipment on board wooden ships and he wrote what may be the first work on early Australian exploration A Voyage to Terra Australis.
Reverse: Parliament House Canberra – After World War I the Federal Capital Advisory Committee was established to prepare Canberra to be the seat of government, including the construction of a Parliament House. The committee decided that it would be best to erect a “provisional” building, to serve for a predicted 50 years until a new, “permanent” House could be built. In the event, Old Parliament House was Parliament’s home for 61 years. It was officially opened in 1927.Watermark:Captain Cook in left hand oval . The word ’Half’ also sits behind each of the signatories.
History
Unable to find another vessel suitable to continue his exploration, Flinders set sail for England as a passenger aboard HMS Porpoise. However the ship was wrecked on Wreck Reefs, part of the Great Barrier Reef, approximately 700 miles (1127 km) north of Sydney. Flinders navigated the ship’s cutter across open sea back to Sydney, and arranged for the rescue of the remaining marooned crew. Flinders then took command of the 29-ton schooner Cumberland in order to return to England, but the poor condition of the vessel forced him to put in at French-controlled Mauritius for repairs on 17 December 1803.
War with France had broken out again the previous May, but Flinders hoped his French passport (though for a different vessel) and the scientific nature of his mission would allow him to continue on his way. Despite this, and the knowledge of Baudin’s earlier encounter with Flinders, the French governor, Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen, was suspicious and detained Flinders. The relationship between the men soured: Flinders was affronted at his treatment, and Decaen insulted by Flinders’ refusal of an invitation to dine with him and his wife. Decaen’s search of Flinders’ vessel uncovered a trunk full of papers from the governor of New South Wales that were not permitted under his scientific passport. Decaen referred the matter to the French government; this was delayed not only by the long voyage but also by the general confusion of war. Eventually, on 11 March 1806, Napoleon gave his approval, but Decaen still refused to allow Flinders’ release. It has been suggested that by this stage Decaen believed Flinders’ knowledge of the island’s defences would have encouraged Britain to attempt to capture it. Nevertheless, in June 1809 the Royal Navy began a blockade of the island, and in June 1810 Flinders was paroled. Travelling via the Cape of Good Hope on Olympia, which was taking despatches back to Britain, he received a promotion to post-captain, before continuing to England.
Flinders had been confined for the first few months of his captivity, but he was later afforded greater freedom to move around the island and access his papers. In November 1804 he sent the first map of the landmass he had charted (Y46/1) back to England. This was the only map made by Flinders where he used the name AUSTRALIA (all capitals) for the title, and the first known time he used the word Australia.
*All biographical details are taken from Wikipedia for education purposes only.
