Discovery & Exploration - Naval surveys

Nicolas Thomas Baudin was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. 

In October 1800 two ships, renamed the Géographe and the Naturaliste, were selected along with a contingent of twenty-two scientists (including three artists) to explore New Holland, Van Diemen’s Land and New Guinea.

While his travels are well documented, it is notable that during his exploration of Bass Strait and the charting of the south coast of the Australian mainland, Baudin met Matthew Flinders coming from the opposite direction in 8 April 1802.

They resupplied in Sydney in late 1802 and were entertained by Governor Philip Gidley King. During this time Baudin decided to send the Naturaliste back to France with all the natural history specimens collected, in it's place he purchased a ship he named the Casuarina, whose shallow draught would allow for closer in-shore surveying. Louis Freycinet, a lieutenant from the Naturaliste, was selected to command it.

Edward Parker Bedwell was a distinguished 19th-century master navigator, hydrographic surveyor, and lithographer whose work significantly contributed to maritime exploration and safety. 

Appointed in 1857 as a naval surveyor, Bedwell undertook the complex task of charting previously uncharted or poorly mapped coastal regions of the British Empire. His early assignments included the waterways of British Columbia and Vancouver, to support British colonial interests and maritime navigation.

Later, Bedwell was deployed to Queensland, where he continued his hydrographic work along the Queensland coastline. His surveys aided in the production of accurate nautical charts, which were vital for both naval and commercial shipping routes during a period of expanding global trade and colonization.

Bedwell’s career spanned over two decades, during which he combined field expertise with lithographic skills to help produce detailed and reliable charts. In 1880, he returned to England with his family. His legacy continues in the maps and nautical charts that guided generations of sailors and traders who came after him.

[ Collections ] [ Maps ]

William Bligh was born in Plymouth, England, and joined the Royal Navy in July 1770. He first voyaged to the South Seas in 1776 as master of H.M.S. Resolution under Commander James Cook, returning in 1780.

In 1787, Bligh was appointed commander of H.M.S. Bounty. During this voyage, on 30 April 1789, a mutiny occurred, and Bligh, along with 18 loyal crew members, was set adrift in a 23-foot boat. Despite limited supplies and no charts, Bligh navigated over 6705 km to Timor in six weeks. He was honorably acquitted in October 1790.

In 1791, Bligh was commissioned to transport breadfruit from Tahiti to the West Indies aboard H.M.S. Providence. On this voyage, he charted part of the southeast coast of Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) while in Adventure Bay and explored regions including Tahiti, Fiji, and the Torres Strait, returning in 1793.

The log of his voyage from 1791 - 1793 is one of the State Library of Queensland's rarest manuscripts.

View William Bligh's Logbook No. 1  |  View William Bligh's logbook No. 2

Between 1847 and 1850, Charles James Card served as a midshipman aboard HMS Rattlesnake, a Royal Navy survey vessel commanded by Captain Owen Stanley. This expedition represented a major scientific and navigational endeavor by the British Admiralty, tasked with conducting the first systematic hydrographic survey of the central and northern coasts of Queensland, the south coast of New Guinea, and the Louisiade Archipelago in the South West Pacific.

The Rattlesnake was accompanied by two smaller vessels, HMS Bramble and HMS Asp, which served as support tenders. Together, the ships charted previously unrecorded waters, enabling safer navigation for naval and commercial ships in an increasingly strategic region for the British Empire.

As a midshipman, Card would have been directly involved in the day-to-day operations of the survey work. This included taking soundings, assisting in chart-making, maintaining navigational records, and supporting scientific personnel. Though not among the most widely recognized figures of the expedition, Card’s role was vital as part of the ship’s junior officer cadre responsible for executing the complex tasks of naval surveying.

The expedition party also included Thomas Henry Huxley, who served as assistant surgeon and naturalist, and John MacGillivray, the official naturalist aboard, who also collected and documented extensive botanical and zoological specimens from the region.

On the way north from Sydney in 1848, the Rattlesnake acted as escort to the Tam o'Shanter which was carrying Edmund Kennedy's ill-fated expedition to Rockingham Bay. Commander Stanley died suddenly in 1850 from an illness contracted while surveying the Louisiade Archipelago.

[ Diary 1 | Diary 2 ]

*Language in this collection reflects the creator’s attitude or that of the period in which it was expressed and is considered inappropriate or offensive today

Matthew Flinders was the first to chart the coasts of the Australian continent, and his works were heavily relied upon by those who came after, navigating the perils of unseen reefs and shoals.

Included in the 1801-1803 voyage were botanist Robert Brown, botanical artist Ferdinand Bauer, and landscape artist William Westall.

In 1803 while charting the Queensland coast in two vessels, they ran aground in Moreton Bay. Flinders and several crew came ashore on Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) in search of fresh water.

The State Library holds several of his early, reprinted and annotated charts, and related works.

Louis-Claude de Saulces de Freycinet, was a naval officer, maritime explorer and member of the Académie des Sciences. He played a prominent role in the Australian expedition led by Nicolas Baudin (1800–1804) and later commanded his own scientific voyage around the world, 1817–1820.

Seaman Davy J Jealous kept a detailed journal of the voyage of HMAS Gayundah, which sailed from Brisbane to Broome and return, from April to August 1911 to enforce Australia's territorial boundary and fishing zone along the north-west coast of the continent. 

The entries describe the journey along the coast of north Queensland, rounding the tip of Cape York, the Gulf of Carpentaria, Port Darwin and onto Broome. During the voyage under the command of Captain George Curtis (1859-1933) they encountered two Dutch vessels who had illegal catches of trepang (sea cucumber) and trochus shell, near Scotts' Reef, off the north coast of Western Australia, and towed them to port in Broome where they were detained.

Included in the narrative are comments on the seaman's daily activities, calling into port for provisions, and interactions with the Aboriginal people of the lands they visited.

*Language in this work reflects the creator’s attitude or that of the period in which it was expressed and is considered inappropriate or offensive today.

Phillip Parker King, a distinguished naval officer and hydrographer, undertook several significant voyages under the direction of the British Admiralty and Colonial Office. His primary mission was to collect comprehensive information on the climate, topography, fauna, timber, minerals, and Indigenous peoples of Australia, as well as to assess the potential for developing trade with them.

King’s first survey was conducted in 1817 aboard the 84-ton cutter Mermaid, departing from Sydney with a crew of nineteen. Among them were botanist Allan Cunningham, midshipman John Septimus Roe, and Aboriginal guide Bungaree.nThe expedition charted the coastline via King George Sound to the North West Cape, reaching as far as Van Diemen’s Gulf in the Northern Territory. The party also visited Timor before returning to Sydney.

In early 1819, King surveyed the recently discovered Macquarie Harbour in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). In May of that year, he set sail for the Torres Strait, taking Surveyor-General John Oxley as far as the Hastings River. King continued to survey the remote northern coastline between Cape Wessel and the Admiralty Gulf, before returning to Sydney in January 1820.

In June 1820, King once again headed north aboard the Mermaid. However, the vessel ran aground near Bowen, sustaining significant damage. Despite this setback, King managed to conduct surveys between Admiralty Gulf and Brunswick Sound on the north-west coast before returning to Port Jackson.

King’s final northern survey was carried out aboard the Bathurst, with a complement of thirty-three crew members, including Aboriginal guide Bundell. The voyage sailed via the Torres Strait to the north-west coast, continuing the detailed hydrographic work begun in previous expeditions. The Bathurst returned to Sydney in April 1822.