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Napolean NGV

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Cold wet and windy Melbourne , so to keep my mind and yours of the weather lets have a day out and go to the National Gallery of Victoria International in St Kilda Road. Where the cloak room was busy cloaking coats , hats and wet umbrellas.
Napoleon & Josephine
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was something of an outsider in France, having been born into a noble family of Italian ancestry on the French-ruled island of Corsica. Trained within the ranks of the French Royal and subsequently French Revolutionary Army, Napoleon rose to power on the back of civil unrest that broke out in Paris following the Reign of Terror (1793-94). His future wife Josephine (1763-1814), whom he married in 1796, was also an outsider, being of Creole background, a member of a French plantation dynasty based in Martinique. Josephine’s first husband, a member of the aristocracy, was guillotined during the French Revolution, leaving her a single mother with two small children to support. Her meeting with the young military officer Bonaparte brought her security, she in turn offered her new husband an elegant and refined social life.

I have taken these references from the NGV site so if it is not going to your State or you want to know more take a look.

The Exhibition has been in the United States.

You will need to spend a good  hour and a half looking reading and wondering.

I was especially interested in the maps and voyages of Baudin. If you have travelled around the Southwestern shoreline of Western Australia, South Australia and especially Kangaroo Island.
 you will have come across Nicholas Baudin.


Thomas Nicolas Baudin was born in Port La Rochelle, France in February 1754, and joined the French navy in 1774. He was promoted to a sub-lieutenant in 1786. In 1792 while on secondment to the Archduke of Austria he led a scientific expedition to the Indian Ocean, to collect plants and other specimens for the palace museum. Following the success of this journey, he led another expedition to the West Indies in 1796, this time collecting for French museums. In 1798 Baudin suggested a voyage around the world, exploring and collecting specimens, but it would be several years before this idea could be taken up, due to the political upheavals in France at that time.
Finally in 1800 an expedition was fitted out. Baudin was given command of two ships Le Geographe and Le Naturaliste (under Captain Hamelin). A large group of civilian scientists, including François Péron, were present on board. When the expedition reached Mauritius most of the scientists and some of the ships' officers left, because of personal and political differences with their leader.
Following his detailed instructions from the French Ministry of Marine, Baudin led the expedition to the coast of New Holland [Western Australia] to chart the coast and to collect specimens. Following resupply in Timor, the ships then sailed to Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania] to make further studies there. Finally in March 1802 they sailed for the 'unknown coast', naming it Terre Napoleon, after the French Emperor. The French met the Flinders' expedition off Encounter Bay on 8-9 April 1802.
After spending 5 months recuperating in Sydney, Baudin led his expedition back to South Australian waters, to complete the charting of Terre Napoleon. After further work there and on the Western Australian coast, he sailed to Timor for resupply. His health failing and with many of his crew ill as well, Baudin sailed for Ile de France [Mauritius], abandoning the rest of his exploration of Australia.
He died on of tuberculosis on Ile de France on 16 September 1803. Le Geographe returned to France in 1804, and the account of the expedition was written by François Péron and Louis de Freycinet.

 gave French place names to features in 'Terre Napoleon', meeting Flinders at Encounter Bay in April 1802, and then continuing on to Golfe de la Mauvaise [Gulf St Vincent] and Golfe de la Melomanie [Spencer Gulf]. At Cape Adieu the survey was abandoned and Baudin sailed for Port Jackson where Le Naturaliste had already arrived.
Winter was spent at Port Jackson, and then Baudin returned to the southern coast for a more thorough survey. Le Naturaliste was sent back to France with its scientific collections, and was replaced with Le Casuarina. In January 1803 Baudin circumnavigated Ile Borda [named Ile Decres by Peron; present day Kangaroo Island], the first European to do so. While Le Geographe anchored at Nepean Bay, Freycinet and the geographer Boullanger explored the two gulfs in Le Casuarina. Near the end of February Le Geographe and Le Casuarina rendezvoued at King George Sound, and then explored the west and northwest coasts of 'New Holland', before heading home.
Baudin's voyage suffered many misfortunes including numerous deaths and desertions, and Baudin himself died on the homeward voyage to France. Consequently, published accounts of the voyage were made by Francois Peron and Louis de Freycinet, and Baudin was unable to defend his version of events. Official reports did not refer to Baudin, partly due to the personal conflicts between Baudin and members of the expedition, and also due to the political upheaval in France in the period following the return of the expedition.
Only in more recent years have the considerable achievements of Baudin's voyage been recognised, including the charting of previously unknown coastline, and discoveries in various fields of science. French place names remain on the southern coast of South Australia, mainly in the south-east, and on the south coast of Kangaroo Island, where the French had been the first to survey.


History today, get back to crafting next week.

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