Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders was born in 1774 in Donington, England. As a Self-educated navigator, he sailed to New South Wales 1795 to explore the waters between Australia and Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) now known as the Bass Strait. In 1801, he became a commander of an expedition to explore the coastline of Australia, which he passed through the great barrier reef and surveyed the Gulf of Carpentaria. His charts were very precise and remarkably accurate. After his work, in 1803 he sailed for England but unfortunately, his ship was wrecked at an uncharted reef and he returned to Australia in the ship's cutter.
On his homeward journey, Flinders was imprisoned for almost seven years in Mauritius as a spy. When he was released in 1810, he returned to England and then wrote a book A Voyage to Teras Australis which was published in 1814. On the same day published, he died aged forty.