Four-hundred years ago, in March 1622, the Dutch ship Leeuwin encountered the south-west coast of Western Australia—the first recorded sighting of the area by Europeans. Known to the Wadandi Noongar people as Doogalup, the Dutch named it ‘t’Leeuwin’s Landt’, or ‘Leeuwin’s Land’.
On Sunday 30 October 2022, the Ambassador H.E. Mrs Marion Derckx together with Wadandi-Pibulum cultural custodian Iszaac Webb officially unveiled the plaque to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the passing of the VOC Ship the Leeuwin on Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia marking an important milestone in Australia’s mapping history. The weekend of festivities brought the whole community together with highlights that included music, an exhibition to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the passing of the Leeuwin presented by the Dutch Australian Foundation with Elly Spillekom as curator; a curated talk fest featuring Professor Martijn Manders from Leiden University, Professor Jeremy Green and an important contribution from Dr Nonja Peters who brought to light her research on finding the name of the captain of the VOC ship. In a weekend of exclamation points to mark the 400th anniversary, a special sister city relationship was signed by the Leeuwin Lions Club in Augusta and the Lions club in Texel in the Netherlands.
In 1801, in recognition of this early Dutch exploration, Captain Matthew Flinders named the south-western tip of the continent Cape Leeuwin. Today, Cape Leeuwin is a popular gem of the south-west, where the iconic Cape Leeuwin lighthouse overlooks the meeting place of the Southern and Indian Oceans.
One of the earliest maps of Australia, the Caert van’t Landt van d’Eendracht (The Chart of the Land of Eendracht) is a map by Hessel Gerritsz covering the extent of Dutch discoveries on the Western Australian coastline from 1616 to 1622.
Caert van’t Landt van d’Eendracht uyt de Iournalen ende afteykeningen der Stierluyden t’samengestelt, Ao. 1627 [cartographic material] / Bij Hessel Gerritsz Courtesy of the National Library of Australia
Detail – Caert van’t Landt van d’Eendracht uyt de Iournalen ende afteykeningen der Stierluyden t’samengestelt, Ao. 1627 [cartographic material] / Bij Hessel Gerritsz Courtesy of the National Library of Australia.
Special Edition of the Journal celebrates the VOC Ship Leeuwin’s first recorded European visit to the South West corner in March 1622. Download your copy of this Journal at http://www.maritimeheritage.org.au/?page=journal
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