James Matra
Encyclopedia
James Mario Matra sailor and diplomat, was a midshipman on the voyage by Captain James Cook to Botany Bay in 1770.
He was born in New York
, but later settled in England. The name of James Maria Matra should have a special interest for Australians, since he was the author of the "Proposal for Establishing a Settlement in New South Wales" put forward in 1783, which the immediate forerunner of the official and semi-official “plans” was resulting in the foundation of the first Australian colony.
In a letter to the British Government in 1783, Matra discussed the potential commercial benefits to Britain of a settlement. He has recommended that Britain should send American Loyalists and/or convicts to settle at Botany Bay in New South Wales. He looked forward to Australia as an asylum for those unfortunate American loyalists to whom Great Britain was bound by every tie of honour and gratitude and with visions, perhaps, of a reproduction of the life of the planters of Virginia and Carolina. He pushed the latter plan partly because he had aspirations to become the first Governor of the new penal colony.
The Australian historians, knew him best for his misbehavior aboard James Cook's Endeavour. Matra was wrongly suspected of snipping of the earlobes of Cook's drunken and alcoholic clerk after stripping him naked while he was drunk. Matra changed his name from Magra to Matra near the end of 1775.
His biographer, Alan Frost
, in 1995, noted that silence covered 'Matra's activities until March 1777', when he applied for leave from his post as consul at Teneriffe in the Canary Islands
to deal with family matters in British occupied New York.
He was born in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, but later settled in England. The name of James Maria Matra should have a special interest for Australians, since he was the author of the "Proposal for Establishing a Settlement in New South Wales" put forward in 1783, which the immediate forerunner of the official and semi-official “plans” was resulting in the foundation of the first Australian colony.
In a letter to the British Government in 1783, Matra discussed the potential commercial benefits to Britain of a settlement. He has recommended that Britain should send American Loyalists and/or convicts to settle at Botany Bay in New South Wales. He looked forward to Australia as an asylum for those unfortunate American loyalists to whom Great Britain was bound by every tie of honour and gratitude and with visions, perhaps, of a reproduction of the life of the planters of Virginia and Carolina. He pushed the latter plan partly because he had aspirations to become the first Governor of the new penal colony.
The Australian historians, knew him best for his misbehavior aboard James Cook's Endeavour. Matra was wrongly suspected of snipping of the earlobes of Cook's drunken and alcoholic clerk after stripping him naked while he was drunk. Matra changed his name from Magra to Matra near the end of 1775.
His biographer, Alan Frost
Alan Frost
Alan Frost is a La Trobe University-based academic. A major theme of his research has involved the European exploration of the Pacific Ocean over the second half of the eighteenth century. He is best known for books in which he challenges common historical stereotypes and misconceptions concerning...
, in 1995, noted that silence covered 'Matra's activities until March 1777', when he applied for leave from his post as consul at Teneriffe in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
to deal with family matters in British occupied New York.