French flag almost flew over Australian soil
It is a rare sight to see the French flag flying above Sydney but history could have taken a very different turn.
Today in History
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It is not surprising that Australia has expressed deep sympathies with the French after the terror attacks in Paris. Our ties with France go back more than two centuries and, while there have been some tense times and times when we have been fierce rivals, those have been far outweighed by a strong ongoing friendship and mutual admiration.
It is a rare occasion that we see the French flag flying over Sydney Harbour, as occurred over the weekend, but it was once a distinct possibility that the French could claim this continent. In 1505 French explorer Binot Paulmier de Gonville claimed to have discovered the much speculated about Terra Australis, but his alleged discovery was forgotten.
In 1664 his descendant Abbe Jean Paulmier de Courtonne revived the claim, at a time when the Dutch and the English were also claiming to have found Terra Australis.
This was regarded by many French as being a prior claim on the continent, but it was not until the 18th century, when rivalry with the British was at a peak, that the French sent an expedition under Louis Bougainville to look for the continent.
In 1768 he almost discovered the Great Barrier Reef but his course was changed by heavy seas. Two years later British explorer Lt James Cook made the discovery Bougainville missed, claiming New South Wales for Britain.
In 1785 the French sent Jean Francois Galaup comte de La Perouse to continue Cook’s work of charting the land, aboard the ships L’Astrolabe and La Boussole. Despite popular opinion, his mission was not to actually claim the land, since the French recognised British claims.
By the time La Perouse reached NSW in 1788 the British had already arrived to establish a convict colony under Captain Arthur Phillip.
At that time the two nations were not at war so Phillip dispatched his second-in-command, Philip Gidley King, to meet with the French explorer and offer to exchange supplies.
La Perouse told King that on the way to NSW he had stopped at Norfolk Island but was unable to land because of rough seas. After La Perouse departed, never to be seen again, King was quickly sent to Norfolk Island to make sure the island stayed in British hands.
The French sent another expedition under Rear Admiral Joseph Antoine Bruny D’Entrecasteaux in 1791 to search for La Perouse and to continue charting the coast.
While in Australia he charted parts of Van Diemens Land, giving his name to Bruny Island and D’Entrecasteaux Channel, but failed to find Bass Strait, which was later charted by George Bass and Matthew Flinders. After searching the Pacific in vain for La Perouse, Bruny died in 1793 off the coast of New Guinea.
Despite their interest in this new British colony, the Napoleonic Wars made it difficult for French ships to land in NSW. Yet the French did start to come.
A French emigre named Francois Barrallier, whose family fled Nalpoeon Bonaparte, arrived in 1800 and became aide-de-camp for the now Governor King. Barrallier continued the French quest to chart Australia and even almost found a way over the Blue Mountains. He was one of a small but growing community of expat French in Sydney, which included merchants, skilled artisans and innkeepers.
Some arrived after fleeing the revolution, many of them had even joined the British armed forces.
Meanwhile there were also more French expeditions of exploration. Nicholas Baudin was a rival to Matthew Flinders in the race to be the first to circumnavigate the continent between 1800 and 1803. In the 1820s and 1830s, explorer Jules d’Urville made journeys to Australia.
When Baudin charted the southern coasts of Australia he named it Terre Napoleon in honour of his emperor. He also named two gulfs in South Australia Golfe Bonaparte and Golfe Josephine. Unfortunately for Napoleon, Flinders had already named these parts of the coast.
With the Napoleonic Wars well in the past the French began to see Australia as a major centre and in 1842 Jean Antoine Marie Faramond became the first French consul to Australia and Australia’s first foreign consulate.
Many French people also came during the gold rush and by the end of the century there were thousands of French living in Australia.
In the 20th century, Australian-French bonds grew stronger.
In two world wars we would fight alongside the French.
Despite some friendly sporting rivalries and a brief period of tension over nuclear tests in the Pacific we have remained friends, trading partners and allies.
Originally published as French flag almost flew over Australian soil
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