Austalian history

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

John Black - 20 Sep 2003 00:31 GMT

Hi, can anyone tell me who actually named Australia and when? I know that
the Dutch called it 'New Holland' and Ctn. James Cook called the island
continent 'New South Wales'. I haven't been able to find in on-line
encyclopedias.
Hopefully.......John Black, South Austalia
jonfblac@internode.on.net

Reply to this Message

Neville Lindsay - 21 Sep 2003 05:01 GMT

> Hi, can anyone tell me who actually named Australia and when? I know that
> the Dutch called it 'New Holland' and Ctn. James Cook called the island
> continent 'New South Wales'. I haven't been able to find in on-line
> encyclopedias.
> Hopefully.......John Black, South Austalia
> jonfblac@internode.on.net

1. Cook didn't call it New South Wales.

2. Flinders called it Australia.

NL

Reply to this Message

Bill - 21 Sep 2003 08:43 GMT

> > Hi, can anyone tell me who actually named Australia and when? I know that
> > the Dutch called it 'New Holland' and Ctn. James Cook called the island
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> NL

"How Australia got it's name.

"Geographers had guessed at the existence of a southern continent for many
centuries before it was actually discovered. In the second century A.D.
Ptolemy published his Geography. It showed a vast area of the southern ocean
as the continent of Terra Australis Incognita, which means 'unknown southern
land'. This name was later shortened to Terra Australis, although it was
still unknown. Dutch navigators were the first Europeans to sight the
western and northern coasts of the unknown continent, and named it New
Holland, but they had no idea how far it extended east and south.
In 1978 the British navigator James Cook landed on the eastern coast of New
Holland. In 1795 another Englishman, Matthew Flinders, reached New Holland.
He decided it should revert to its old name of Terra Australis. This time
the name stuck, although it eventually changed its form to Australia."

http://members.tripod.com/~chesweb/heritage/funfact_aust.html

Reply to this Message

Neville Lindsay - 24 Sep 2003 01:04 GMT

> > > Hi, can anyone tell me who actually named Australia and when? I know
> that
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> In 1978 the British navigator James Cook landed on the eastern coast of New
> Holland.

What does his landing have to do with the name?

>In 1795 another Englishman, Matthew Flinders, reached New
>Holland.
> He decided it should revert to its old name of Terra Australis.

He made no such decision. It wasn't his to make, was it?

>This time
> the name stuck, although it eventually changed its form to Australia."

Hardly. See below.

> http://members.tripod.com/~chesweb/heritage/funfact_aust.html

That is a pretty witless site. For something informed try:
http://www.nla.gov.au/worldtreasures/html/theme-exploration-5-flinders.html'Had I

NL

Reply to this Message

History Forum / General / General Topics / September 2003

Austalian history