de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception
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Before the British invasion of 1788 it is believed 300,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders lived alongside 500 varied clan groups or nationalities in Australia.
Evidence corroborates Aboriginal inhabitance of the Continent for 50,000 years.
The East Coast was claimed for the British by Captain James Cook in 1770 on the order of King George III and named New South Wales. The Penal Colony began in 1778.
Matthew Flinders in 1804 circumnavigated the land mass then known as New Holland or Terra Australis in a leaking, rotting boat. His map, named the
"Elgin Marbles of Australian history" is referred to as Australia's 'birth certificate' but is housed at the British Hydrographic Office in Somerset, England and is an issue of growing contention.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1350614/The-Elgin-Marbles-Australia-demands-return-birth-certificate-map.html
Annual Australia Day festivities are on January 26th to celebrate the first arrival of a fleet of eleven convict ships from Great Britain and raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove - new citizens also call themselves Australian for the first time.
Flinders, hailed a hero, has been immortalized by 100 geograpic features named for him including a mountain range. His adventure began in 1801 and was commissioned by Sir Joseph Banks and completed in 1803. On his way home he was jailed by the French in Mauritius when he stopped for repairs and languished there for six years.
As a result work on his map was delayed until 1810, on his return to Britain he completed the map and his account of his trip, "A Voyage to Terra Australis," both published while on his deathbed in 1814. He never saw the results of his heroic efforts. Flinders is recognized for being the first to use the term Australia - very significant in the minds of Australians.
On the bicentenary of Flinder's death, Australia would like the map returned because it is the
Elgin Marbles of Australian history. The real Elgin Marbles are ancient Greek sculptures in the British Museum the Athens government has demanded be returned.
Matthew Flinders' life is a tower in history; and his storied life featured in several great tales of navigation - more details of his life are captured at the topic link.
Australia on our minds.
