Printable version (text Only)TERRA AUSTRALIS 2001 WA ASSOCIATION Inc
MONUMENTS PROGRAM SYNOPSIS
Kate Pratt
Executive Director, Terra Australis 2001, Western Australian Association Inc.
Baudin Monument Locations
Eight monuments (comprising a set of a bronze bust and detailed explanatory plaque) have been presented in Western Australia, in the following regional centres of significance to the expedition:
| 1) |
Broome Shire Council – bust presented by the Minister  for Regional Development on 13 December 2002 and currently erected at Bedford Park overlooking Roebuck Bay, near Dampier’s Chest, with plans to mount ultimately along the Jetty-to-Jetty development. Earlier Dutch maps of the area showed only the barest outline of where the land was estimated to be. Baudin spent weeks in two separate visits producing detailed charts from North West Cape to the Bonaparte Archipelago. Scores of French names are still in use all along the Kimberley coast. |
| 2) |
Shark Bay Shire Council – bust presented on 26 October 2002 to commemorate two extended and fruitful stays (1801 and 1803) in Shark Bay, to be mounted in the new World Heritage Centre, under construction and due to be opened in 2005. The expedition charted the interior of the bay, showing that Peron Peninsula is not an island as previously thought. Péron was one of the expedition’s zoologists. About 40 other names of expeditionaries are in the Shark Bay area. |
| 3) |
Perth City Council – bust unveiled by former French  Prime Minister, M. Michel Rocard in July 2001, to be mounted on or near Heirisson Island, named for one of Baudin’s officers who led the exploration of the Swan River and drew the first detailed map of the river. The State Government recently purchased this map in London. The bust is now the centrepiece of the new development at Fraser Point in the centre of the city, with Baudin looking towards Heirisson Island. |
| 4) |
Fremantle City Council – bust unveiled in June 2001 by French Ambassador, M. Pierre Viaux, at Fremantle Maritime Museum - to be displayed with artefacts commemorating early explorers near the scale model of Baudin’s ship the Géographe. |
| 5) |
 Bunbury City Council – bust erected 2 March 2003 at Bonnefoi Boulevard, off Casuarina Drive, overlooking Leschenault Inlet. Bonnefoi was Baudin’s sub-lieutenant, Leschenault his botanist. Baudin purchased the Casuarina, a schooner, in Port Jackson, for his return journey. |
| 6) |
Busselton Shire Council – bust presented 8 October 2002, currently displayed at Busselton Jetty Interpretive Centre, overlooking Geographe Bay, Baudin’s first anchorage, which was named for his ship, the Géographe. |
| 7) |
Augusta–Margaret River Council – bust presented 18 January 2003, currently on display at the Margaret River library. This bust will be erected to mark the expedition’s mapping of that strip of coast on 27th May 1801, near Cape Hamelin, named for Baudin’s second-in-command, Emmanuel Hamelin, captain of the Naturaliste. |
| 8) |
Albany City Council – unveiled by the Governor of  Western Australia, Lieutenant-General John Sanderson, on 16 March 2003 on the boardwalk overlooking King George Sound, Frenchman's Bay, Vancouver Peninsula and Oyster Harbour. It is situated close to Two Peoples' Bay, where Baudin met Pendleton, the American who began the first pre-colonial industry in WA - sealing. |
| 9) |
Adelaide, South Australia – purchased by the Royal Geographical Society with help from the French Embassy and the Paris Terra Australis Committee. To mark Baudin’s important contribution to biodiversity, as well as the celebrated chance encounter between Baudin and Matthew Flinders at Encounter Bay in April 1802. Unveiled March 2003 by M. Michel Rocard and relocated 16 September 2003 to the new foyer of the SA Zoological Gardens in the city centre. M Rocard, the chairman of the French Terra Australis Committee, is member of the European Parliament and a former Prime Minister of France. |
| 10) |
Port Louis, Mauritius – reproduction costs met by the Paris Terra Australis Committee and unveiled by Michel Rocard 16 September 2003, to commemorate Baudin’s untimely death on the island on 16 September, 1803. |
| 11) |
Sydney – partly financed by the Paris Terra Australis Committee. This monument was unveiled on 5/7/04 by the French Consul-General, M Marc Finaud, at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney. |
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Tasmania is only a hope as yet. The Tasmanian Museum has expressed a very strong desire to have a bust but have been unable so far to find finance. |
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| 12) |
Le Havre: Homeport of the expedition from which it had sailed on 19 October 2000. Le Havre also houses the Collection Lesueur, a collection of about 1500 paintings and drawings made by the ship’s artists during the voyage. This bronze would be presented in recognition of the career and to mark the retirement of Madame Jacqueline Bonnemains, AM, Curator of the Collection, who was decorated by the Australian Government last year for her services to Australian art and culture. |
| 13) |
Paris – It is hoped that the Paris monument will complement a statue of La Pérouse on the Promenade d’Australie, near the Australian Embassy. |
Photos courtesy: Kate Pratt.
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