PRINCE William is to unveil a bronze statue of the first explorer to circumnavigate Australia

THE statue of Matthew Flinders, who commanded the first ship to travel all the way around Australia between 1801 to 1803 and is believed to have coined the name “Australia”, is to take pride of place at Euston Station, where the English cartographer is thought to be buried.

 

The Duke of Cambridge will unveil the statue in a ceremony at Australia House in London on July 18.

UK sculptor Mark Richards was commissioned to design the statue, which depicts Flinders at work over a stylised map of Australia.

Announcing the statue’s commission in 2013, Australia’s then High Commissioner to the UK, Mike Rann, said Flinders was “central to the Australian story and to our identity”.

Flinders is regarded as particularly important in South Australia, where the Flinders Ranges, Flinders Chase National Park, Flinders Street in Adelaide, and Flinders University are all named after him.