WILLIAM UNVEILS STATUE OF EXPLORER
The Duke of Cambridge has unveiled a statue in honour of the first man to identify Australia as a continent.
William, who visited the Commonwealth country with wife Kate and son George in April, said he was honoured to celebrate a man who "did far more than anyone to place Australia - quite literally - on the map".
Captain Matthew Flinders, the first person to circumnavigate Australia at the age of just 27, is a household name Down Under but little known in his native Britain.
The 6ft (1.8m) bronze memorial of the cartographer, designed by sculptor Mark Richards, was unveiled by the Duke at Australia House today.
The government of South Australia hopes to bolster Captain Flinders' profile among British people by permanently erecting the statue at Euston station in central London, the site where it is believed Captain Flinders was buried on his death at the age of 40.
The statue shows him kneeling over a map of Australia with a compass and his companion Trim, a cat, who travelled with him on his explorations.
William, who said Australia is a "very dear place to me and Catherine", was presented with a table-top version of the statue, which he was initially a little hesitant to lift.
He described Captain Flinders as a man of "action,strength, and determination".
Bill Murrihead, the Agent General for South Australia, said: "Knowing that the Duke of Cambridge is so fond of Australia, we were delighted to have him here today to honour Matthew Flinders, a young, inspirational man like himself.
"I talked with him about his recent trip to Australia. He is very pro-all things Australian so we feel he is one of us.
"We also talked about whether the cat would be nicked from Euston station but we concluded it was pretty well connected to the statue."
He added that Captain Flinders was a "remarkable man who accomplished a huge deal" and deserved to be recognised in his homeland as he is in Australia.
Captain Flinders, who had been a naval officer, determined that New South Wales and Western Australia were one land mass. He is also credited with giving the country its name when he wrote his General Chart of Terra Australis in 1804.
The Duke also unveiled a commemorative Matthew Flinders locomotive nameplate for one of the Virgin Pendolino trains which run between London Euston and Glasgow.
The statue was organised and funded by the work of the Matthew Flinders Memorial Statue Steering Committee with the support of the explorer's distant relatives.
