Thread: History Lesson From Les Hiddins.

I remember vaguely from school that we were told that the Dutch discovered Australia before Captain Cook. I think the ship they were on was the Duyfken, but don't quote me on this. I do know that some of the Dutch were shipwrecked off the WA coast, Dirk Hartog I think it was, around the Shark Bay area. Thats about the limit of my memory of school taught Oz history.

It was called New Holland on maps of the time for a very good reason.

Originally Posted by Brett1066

I remember vaguely from school that we were told that the Dutch discovered Australia before Captain Cook. I think the ship they were on was the Duyfken, but don't quote me on this. I do know that some of the Dutch were shipwrecked off the WA coast, Dirk Hartog I think it was, around the Shark Bay area. Thats about the limit of my memory of school taught Oz history.

I think the Dutch, French, and maybe the Spanish? found Australia well before the English. But i am not sure about the Dutch living here many years before the English then vanishing without a trace or solid record of them being here.

But thanks for replying mate.

Originally Posted by disco man

I found a 2 DVD set from the library called "Bush Tucker Man 8 Classic Stories Of Survival With Les Hiddins".

As a young bloke i always loved watching Bush Tucker Man,between him and Malcolm Douglas,Alby Mangels,The Leyland Brothers.The idea of adventure was very much implanted by these great Australians.

I thought i knew a little bit about Australian history,but after watching this DVD it seems a lot of what i have told needs a bit of work.Below is a description from the sleeve notes.

Episode 1-The Coffee Royal Affair, Les travels to the Western Australian coast where sir Charles Kingsford Smith's reputation was damaged following one of Australia's earliest aviation disasters.

Episode 2-The Cannibal Convict, In the Wilds of south-west Tasmania Les looks at the story of one of Australia's earliest prison escapees Alexander Pierce.

Episode 3-The Best Of Them All, Follow the footsteps of the determined explorer John McDouall Stuart who became the first European to cross the country from south to north.

Episode 4-The Dutch Settlement, Les follows clues across Australia to investigate a report made last century about a Dutch colony that was established in central Australia following a ship wreck.

Episode 5- Gold Fever, Les travels to central Australia to investigate discoveries that claim to throw new light on the legend of Lasseter's lost reef.

Episode 6- The Passionate Prussian, Les looks at Leichardt's phenomenal journey from Moreton Bay to Port Essington and the mystery of his disappearance.

Episode 7- The Great Misadventure, The tale of Burke and Wills is re-evaluated and Les speculates how a knowledge of bush tucker may have changed the outcome of this ill-fated party.

Episode 8- Into The Vilest Country, Les travels to the Cape York Peninsula in a manner that contrasts strongly with that of the cumbersome Kennedy expedition.

The story that sticks out the most for me is about the Dutch settlement, it states an englishman who was part of a exploration party traveling through Central Australia in the 1800's came across some Aboriginals that had a Masonic sign and referred to his gun as a musket.But as Les points out the English had stopped using the term musket many many years before.

The settlement was on the edge of a swamp or billabong and had over 300 Dutch settlers in a well constructed camp.Les speculates these Dutch people most likely came from a shipwrecked on the Western Australian coast.But what made them leave the coast? And what prompted them to keep walking inland?

And Les and many others have not been able to find any evidence of this settlement or what happened to these people why?. If this is true Dutch settlement predates English by many years.

Any thoughts on this guys?

Yep. The Dutch had been here long before the English claimed it.Dutch traders had been tradingwith the Aboriginals hundreds of years before Cook arrived.
I know a fellow who found a coin from the Dutch East India company in his back yard. Thinking it was rare, his subsequent investigations proved it was more common than he thought.
You know the dingo is not native to Australia. It was introduced by traders a very long time before Cook. The dingo originally came from Thailand I think.

I love mysteries and I recall the stories from watching Les' shows on the telly.
A possibility for a group of Europeans leaving the coast could be that they went with a group of nomadic aborigines to a different seasonal camp... possibly.

Anyway, I love his work and I uploaded an old, now unavailable, VHS of Bush Tucker Man that was produced by Defence Public Relations. I'll link them below:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A-nqul7w-k]Original Bush Tucker Man Part1(of4) - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyC9czJi1Qg]Original Bush Tucker Man Part2(of4) - YouTube[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytqH3cLPHTQ[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Qlu75yVEk]Original Bush Tucker Man Part4(of4) - YouTube[/ame]

Yeah I don't remember ever being told that any settlements were established before the English settled. But then again, doesn't mean there weren't any. History is normally written by the winners, and the English may well have suppressed any information of any other settlements to strengthen their claim on Australia - after all, it was the age of colonialism with the European powers competing for new lands and claims.
Interesting all the same.

Also don't forget the English were exploring the NW Coast at least 100 years before Cook "discovered" Australia. Likewise the Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish were here at least 80 years before that - so up to 200 years before Cook.

Torres
Tasman
Dampier
Hartog

are the well known ones but there are more.

Garry

Originally Posted by Brett1066

I remember vaguely from school that we were told that the Dutch discovered Australia before Captain Cook. I think the ship they were on was the Duyfken, but don't quote me on this. I do know that some of the Dutch were shipwrecked off the WA coast, Dirk Hartog I think it was, around the Shark Bay area. Thats about the limit of my memory of school taught Oz history.

You're thinking of the Batavia.
The Duyfken was another Dutch ship. I saw the replica at Goolwa some years ago. It is known to be the first ship to land on Australian shores in the very early 1600's, before the Batavia.