Did you know this?
Australian connections to Lincolnshire
Did you Know?
Explorers from Lincolnshire were involved in the opening up of Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries. The endeavours of three Lincolnshire men, Sir Joseph Banks, George Bass and Matthew Flinders, were involved in the exploration of the natural history and mapping of Australia.
Sir Joseph Banks
Banks sailed with Captain Cook on HMS Endeavour (1768-71) acting as the expedition's chief botanist. Banks brought back huge collections from Australia, including over 30,000 plant specimens. Today you can see the exotic plants he helped discover in the courtyard of The Joseph Banks Centre in Horncastle.
Aged 21, in 1764 he inherited Revesby Abbey together with a large fortune. Banks was hugely influential being a friend of George III and President of the Royal Society, he was involved in most of the scientific initiatives and voyages of exploration of the time. Banks kept kangaroos on his estate at Revesby in Lincolnshire and although they didn’t thrive clearly had sufficient stock to send a spare to Paris in 1789.
In Lincoln Cathedral is a plaque dedicated to Sir Joseph Banks. The design features Banksia Dentata one of the many plants named after him. In Lincoln’s Usher Gallery is a magnificent portrait of Banks by the American artist Benjamin West.
Matthew Flinders
Matthew Finders was from the village of Donington, near Spalding in Lincolnshire. He had gone to sea aged 15, inspired by Cook’s voyages and the tales of ‘Robinson Crusoe’ by Defoe. In 1795 HMS Reliance reached the Botany Bay Convict Settlement. Matthew Flinders was midshipman and George Bass was the ship’s surgeon and they set out in an eight-foot boat called ‘Tom Thumb’ to chart Botany Bay and the George River. Later in HMS Norfolk, they circumnavigated Tasmania establishing for the first time that it was a separate island. The strait between Tasmania and the mainland was named ‘Bass Strait' at Flinders’ request.
Banks was influential in the mounting of Flinders's voyage in1802 on HMS Investigator, in particular ensuring there were plenty of naturalists on board. Also on board was second-lieutenant Samuel Flinders, his 12 year old brother. This led to the first circumnavigation and mapping of Terra Australis, Flinders's 1804 chart being the first to show the complete coastline of Australia. It was Flinders that made the suggestion that the name of the continent should be shortened to Australia.
Flinders died aged 40 in 1814, his health broken by his gruelling voyages, his masterpiece, A Voyage to Terra Australis had just been published. The story does not end here, the coffin of Matthew Flinders, complete with its brass plaque, was found during the building of HS2 at Euston Station and its final resting place is now at the church where he was baptised, in his home village of Donington. Many statues of Flinders also feature his cat Trim, who accompanied him on his voyages.
George Bass
Flinders had made a previous journey to Australia accompanied by his friend George Bass on HMS Reliance. Bass was born in Aswarby near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, but later moved to Boston. Flinders thought that Tasmania was part of the mainland, but Bass was convinced that it was an island, so when in 1798 on HMS Norfolk they confirmed that Bass was right it was no wonder that Flinders was determined that it should be named the Bass Strait. This meant that ships didn’t have to sail around the island to reach Sydney, so an important discovery.
Bass was also a keen naturalist sharing his findings with Sir Joseph Banks. He was also the first European to encounter and describe a wombat, "The wombat is about the size of a turnspit dog. It is a squat, short-legged and rather inactive quadruped with an appearance of great stumpy strength. Its figure and movements, if they do not resemble those of the bear at least remind one of that animal….".
Bass, then 32 was last seen in 1803 when he left Sydney enroute to Chile, he was buried at sea.
There is a plaque inside St Botolph’s church in memory to those from the Boston area involved in the exploration of Australasia.
John Franklin
Another of Flinders’ officers on HMS Investigator was his cousin John Franklin, a midshipman. Franklin was from the little town of Spilsby in Lincolnshire and his parents had been married in St Botolph’s in Boston. He joined the Royal Navy aged 14 and fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, before joining Flinders in circumnavigating Australia. In a series of expeditions mapping the arctic coast he became one of our greatest Arctic explorers. He also became governor of Tasmania (1837-1843), then known as Van Diemen’s Land, where he established a state education system and founded the Tasmanian Natural History Society. In 1848 Franklin disappeared together with his ship and crew while attempting to find the North-West Passage. There is a statue of Franklin in the market place of his home town Spilsby.
RAF Binbrook
RAF Binbrook in northern Lincolnshire is a former RAF station primarily used in the Second World War by Bomber Command. It closed in 1942 so that three concrete runways could be installed and then reopened in 1943 as home to No 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force. The squadron was notable for flying the most sorties of any Australian bomber squadron. They lost 188 aircraft and suffered 1,018 combat deaths. RAF Binbrook was used for filming the 1990 movie Memphis Belle.
