Matthew Flinders, the navigator, cartographer and scientist — and, more unusually, the biographer of a cat called Trim — is one of the great figures of Australian history. Just over 200 years ago he became the first person to circumnavigate Australia, and was responsible for the country having the name it has today.
In his native England — where he is buried beneath Euston Station — he is all but unknown. Next year, on the 200th anniversary of his death at 40, it is hoped that that will change when a statue of him is erected at Euston.
It will coincide with the unveiling of a memorial at Westminster Abbey to another Englishman who played a key role in Australian history. Arthur Phillip, the first