1606 Discovery of Australia

1606 Discovery of Australia – 249 A4 pages in full colour.

The initial publication date for the fourth edition of 1606 Discovery of Australia was meant to be during the early years of 2000. It was supposed to be a re-edit of my first book published in 1994. While writing the book, I envisaged a series of books: Australia Discovered. The first draft of these books was over a thousand pages and clearly needed to be divided over a number of books. It was the distractions of these other books that led me to publish these first, as well as my quest to find out more about Willem Janszoon’s early life in The Netherlands.

What was missing from the draft was the story of Willem Janszoon’s early life. None supposedly existed. It took many years of fruitless research into every Willem Janszoon born around 1570 and every possible male parent with the Jansz surname that had a male child born in the same year. This meant painfully translating, word by word, old 16th century Dutch text. One name stood out: Willem Janszoon van Hoorn. I wasn’t prepared for the amazing story of adventure, international intrigue climaxing in a dramatic hostage rescue. The protagonists included the Prince of Orange, Spanish Ambassador of England, and Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, Francis Walsingham.

Before writing the book, I had hoped to visit The Netherlands for the first time so that I could have a greater empathy for the Dutch in the 17th century. I was able to do this in 2019. Visiting over 20 Dutch cities and towns, museums and art galleries, enabled me to gain greater appreciation of the following: the founding of the Republic; the Eighty Years War; the voyages to the Dutch East Indies and the lives and adventures of explorers, sailors, soldiers and merchants of the VOC.

Too often events in history are written entirely as individual episodes without regard to the complexities of politics, religion, war and other historical incidents. 1606 Discovery of Australia is not just about a singular historical event. It encompasses the life of Willem Janszoon, the first European discoverer of Australia, woven into the rise of the Dutch Republic and their wars against Spain, Portugal, England and various kingdoms in the Dutch East Indies.

Amongst the undeservedly unknown characters of Australian history, Willem Janszoon is, the greatest. A student in any Australian school could finish their education without learning about the greatest voyage of exploration in Australia’s history: the discovery of Australia in 1606, 164 years before Cook. Those who did have scant knowledge of his voyage, would certainly have learned nothing of his life. This book will fill that gap for interested readers.

If ever there was a movie blockbuster crying out to be made, then it is the 40-year naval career of Willem Janszoon. Given the many hardships and high death rates of the time, this, by itself, was an achievement. Twenty-six of these years were spent as an officer of the famed Dutch East India Company (VOC), where he served as a Captain, Admiral, Governor and Councillor of the Indies. Fighting many battles, both on land and at sea, Janszoon defeated formidable opponents from nations such as Spain, Portugal and England. He was an excellent navigator, captain and commander of men.

1606 Discovery of Australia takes place across four continents: Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Willem Janszoon was born in an era of the most violent upheaval in the Netherlands history: an eighty- year war with the greatest superpower on earth, Spain, who was intent on destroying all religious and political opposition to its hegemony.

Young Willem grew up in a storm of warfare that threatened, not only the very existence of the newly founded Protestant United Provinces, but the lives of the Janszoon family. He was born at the beginning of an eighty-year war against Spain. This was the constant backdrop of all events in Janszoon’s life and the Dutch in the East Indies.

Well-versed in the horrific histories of the inquisition, innocent deaths and tortures that occurred in the name of Philip, Janszoon dedicated his life to the defence of his homeland. By securing new trade routes for its economic survival and defeating its enemies, Janszoon was fighting for his life, family and country.

The Dutch merchants soon realised that the only way that they could compete with Spain and Portugal was to finance its war of independence by discovering their secret spice route to the Indies. Everything that occurred in the East Indies from 1596 until 1648 should be viewed with the permanent backdrop of the Eighty Years War which hung like a sword over the neck of Dutch freedom and independence. This includes Janszoon’s discovery of Australia.

During Janszoon’s entire career in the East Indies, the Dutch were fighting for survival. This is not just a story about the discovery of Australia, or the life and career of Willem Janszoon. It is a story about the struggle for freedom for one of Europe’s smallest nations: The Netherlands.