Club Bulletin 21 September 2021 (Sep 25, 2021)

Guest Speaker - Andrew Phippen - The Early French Maritime Exploration of Nouvelle Hollande

John Turner introduced Andrew Phippen, mineral engineer and then an IT specialist, now retired. Andrew is a volunteer guide at the Australian Maritime Museum and was a volunteer crew member on the James Craig.

The contribution of France to Australia is often overlooked. Binot Paulmier de Gonneville possibly landed on the west coast some 266 years before Cook. The early French explorers were more enlightened and more interested in the indigenous people and exploration rather than colonisation.
In 1771 Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Tremarec was given permission by the King Louis XV of France to undertake a voyage of exploration to the Southern Ocean with the aim of discovering Terra Australis. His second in command was fellow Breton Louis Francois Marie Aleno de Saint Alouarn. On 29 March 1772 the ship entered Shark Bay and took possession of the land. Two coins were buried in a bottle with a written document to prove this fact. One coin was discovered in 1998.
Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne led an expedition to find Terra Australis in 1771 and made important geographic discoveries in the South Indian Ocean and anthropological discoveries in Tasmania and New Zealand. He was very impressed by Van Diemen’s Land and had a good relationship with the indigenous people, but the expedition missed the coast of southern Australia.
La Perouse was named after the French navigator Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte de La Perouse who landed on the northern shore of Botany Bay west of Bear Island on 26 January 1788. Captain Phillip had arrived a few days earlier. The French stayed at Botany Bay for six weeks and built a stockade, observatory, and a garden for fresh produce on what is now known as the La Perouse peninsula. La Perouse left and was never heard of again.
Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni D’Entrecasteaux was a French naval officer and explorer and is known for his exploration of the Australian coast in 1792 while searching for the La Perouse expedition. He too explored Tasmania but like de Fresne missed the southern Australian coast.
The Baudin expedition of 1800 to 1803 was a French scientific expedition to map the coast of New Holland. Expedition leader Nicholas Baudin started the expedition with two ships and was accompanied by a total of 22 scientists, far more than any other explorers. They charted the whole length of Tasmania’s east coast where there was extensive interaction with the indigenous people. They then began surveying the southern coast of Australia. The expedition was considered the most successful scientific expedition of any undertaken, with more than 2500 new species discovered and thousands of specimens collected. Unfortunately, the expedition took a huge toll. Of the 22 scientists only 2 returned to France.

John Turner thanked Andrew for his interesting presentation and the fascinating historical stories. To hear about the explorations from a French perspective was very enlightening.

Ros Virtue

ADDENDUM - Comment from Bob Edwards

Andrew touched on a couple of issues that I would like to comment on and if appropriate have included in the bulletin.

The designation of place names was strictly controlled. Explorers’ charts and suggested place names were submitted to an International Body on return to their home port. This multi nation body determined an appropriate name rather than allowing various places with the same name to exist. The designation of "Derwent River" as opposed to "Big River” given by a prior explorer would have been discussed on the return of the explorers and a single name decided upon.

The name “Napoleon” on the French charts was not considered acceptable to the committee and hence was expunged from the resulting combined charts. “Bonaparte” however, was acceptable and hence we have a gulf of that name in northern Australia.

Andrew mentioned that it was considered the success of Baudin’s explorations exceeded that of Cook’s explorations. Cook made three voyages each of about three years, returning each time with scientists and crew mainly intact and no one lost to scurvy. Cook’s demise resulted from a cultural misunderstanding between the locals and the God like stature that had been bestowed on him.

It’s true the return of scientific specimens could be one measure, but minor compared to the joy of returning sailors and scientists!

1). Is it the TRUTH?

2). Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3). Will it build GOODWILL & BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4). Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?