French Western Australia () was a French territorial claim in modern-day Western Australia. It was made at Dirk Hartog Island by an expedition under French explorer Louis Aleno de St Aloüarn (also Saint-Aloüarn) in 1772.
History French expedition
On 28 March 1772, the French navigator Louis Aleno de St Aloüarn landed on Dirk Hartog Island "and became the first European to claim possession of Western Australia". The actual claim for French Western Australia on behalf of King Louis XV was made at (literally, 'Bay of taking Possession'; later Turtle Bay), Dirk Hartog Island on 30 March 1772 by officer Jean Mengaud de la Hage while Louis Aleno de St Aloüarn remained aboard the ship. Members of Mengaud's ceremonial team raised the royal flag on the island and buried a bottle containing a document stating what had occurred, alongside two silver écu coins, worth six Livres tournois (Francs). This occurred in sight of Cape Inscription, where in 1696 the Dutch mariner Willem de Vlamingh had also left a commemorative plate recording his visit and that of Dirk Hartog in 1616.
Later discoveries An 18th century bottle was recorded, containing an annexation document and a coin. In 1998, a lead bottle cap with a shield coin set into it was discovered at Turtle Bay by a team led by Philippe Godard and Max Cramer. This triggered a wider search by a team from the Western Australian Museum led by Myra Stanbury, with Bob Sheppard, Bob Creasy and Michael McCarthy. On 1 April 1998, an intact bottle bearing a lead cap identical to the one found earlier, also with an coin in it, was unearthed. This led to a ceremony on 30 March 1999, during which several bottles were buried on the island.
Places About 260 places in Western Australia bear French names today; examples by alphabetical order: Cape Le Grand Cape Naturaliste Cape Peron (, or , southern outskirts of Perth) Capel Capel River () Shire of Capel D'Entrecasteaux National Park Espérance Francois Peron National Park Geographe Bay (); Jurien Bay () Lancelin Leschenault Leschenault Estuary () Lesueur National Park Péron Point D'Entrecasteaux Point Samson Recherche Archipelago ()
Moreover, Western Australian historian and university researcher Noelene Bloomfield explains, in her book Almost a French Australia, that most of the so-called Dutch-sounding names in Western Australia were in fact given by French explorers.
Zoologist Danielle Clode wrote in her documentary French Voyages of Discovery to Australia:
More Several exhibitions were organised around French Western Australia: Canberra, National Museum of Australia: 15 March 201811 June 2018 Perth, Western Australian Museum: 12 September 201812 February 2019 Le Havre, Musée d'histoire naturelle: 5 June 20217 November 2021
About the 2018–2019 Western Australian Museum exhibition, Diana Jones (its executive director of collections and research) declared:
See also History of Australia, European maritime exploration of Australia Binot Paulmier de Gonneville (-), potential discoverer of Terra Australis, around 1504 Theory of the Portuguese discovery of Australia (1522) Jave la Grande Dieppe maps Botany Bay, La Pérouse expedition (1788)
General references
In French
In English
References