Episode 1 of 3

1804 Correspondence

When: 1804
Where: England
Part of: Matthew Flinders proposes the name Australia for New Holland

Flinders wrote to his brother in 1804, explicitly stating his preference for the name Australia over Terra Australis.

In 1804, Flinders wrote to his brother, declaring, "I call the whole island Australia, or Terra Australis." This correspondence documented his personal preference for the name, which he considered more agreeable to the ear than previous names.

Sources

Matthew Flinders Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-08

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.