Willem Jansz (c.1570 - 1630), more properly Willem Janszoon (Jansz is an abbreviation of Janszoon), Dutch navigator and colonial governor, is the first European known to have seen the coast of Australia. Jansz was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Nothing is known of Jansz's early life*. He entered the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sometime before 1600, and sailed from the Netherlands for the East Indies in December 1603 as skipper of the Duyfken (or Duijfken, meaning Little Dove), part of a fleet of twelve ships. Once in the Indies, Jansz was sent to search out other outlets for trade, particularly in "the great land of Nova Guinea and other East and Southlands." Events January 23 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, Earl of Moray throws Scotland into civil war February 25 - Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England. ... Events February 22 - Native American Quadequine introduces Popcorn to English colonists. ... Amsterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 739. ... Dutch colonial possessions, with the Dutch East India Company possessions marked in a paler green, surrounding the Indian Ocean plus Saint Helena in the mid-Atlantic. ... Events January January 1 - Scotland adopts January 1st as being New Years Day February February 17 - Giordano Bruno burned in a stake for heresy July July 2 - Battle of Nieuwpoort: Dutch forces under Maurice of Nassau defeat Spanish forces under Archduke Albert in a battle on the coastal dunes. ... The Indies, on the display globe of the Field Museum, Chicago The Indies or East Indies (or East India) is a term used to describe lands of South and South-East Asia, occupying all of the former British India, the present Indian Union, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and... Events March 24 - Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England April 28 – Funeral of Elizabeth I of England in Westminster Abbey July 17 or July 19 - Sir Walter Raleigh arrested for treason. ...

On November 18, 1605, the Duyfken sailed from Bantam to the coast of western New Guinea. She then crossed eastern end of the Arafura Sea, without seeing Torres Strait, into the Gulf of Carpentaria, and made a landfall on the western shore of Cape York in Queensland, near the modern town of Weipa. Jansz charted 320km of the Australian coast, which he thought was a southern extension of New Guinea. November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years), with 43 remaining. ... Events April 13 - Tsar Boris Godunow dies - Feodor II accedes to the throne May 16 - Paul V becomes Pope June 1 - Russian troops in Moscow imprison Feodor II and his mother. ... The city of Bantam near the western end of Java was a strategically important site and formerly a major trading city, with a secure harbor on the Malacca Strait through which all ocean-going traffic passed, at the mouth of a river (Cibantam River) that provided a navigable passage for... The Arafura Sea is the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea. ... The Torres Strait is the body of water which lies between Australia and Papua New Guinea. ... The Gulf of Carpentaria viewed from orbit. ... Categories: Australia geography stubs | Peninsulas | Headlands ... Motto: Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Nickname: Sunshine State/Smart State Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Governor Premier Const. ... Weipa ( 12°36′ S 141°58′ E) is a town on the Gulf of Carpentaria coast on Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. ...

Finding the land swampy and the people inhospitable (ten of his men were killed on various shore expeditions), at Cape Keerveer ("Turnabout"), south of Albatross Bay, Jansz headed home and arrived at Bantam in June 1606. He called the land he had discovered "Nieu Zelandt," but this name was not adopted, and was later used by Abel Tasman to name New Zealand. Events January 27 - The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins ending in their execution on January 31 May 17 - Supporters of Vasili Shusky invade the Kremlin and kill pretender Dmitri December 26 - Shakespeares King Lear performed in court Storm buries a village of St Ismails near... Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603 - 1659) was a Dutch seafarer and explorer, born in Lutjegast, a village in the province of Groningen, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644, in the service of the VOC (Dutch East India Company). ...

Although there have been many suggestions that earlier navigators from China, France or Portugal may have discovered parts of Australia, the Duyfken is the first European vessel known to have done so.

Jansz served in the Netherlands East Indies for several periods (1603-11, 1612-16, including a period as governor of Fort Henricus on Solor, and 1618-28, during which time was served as admiral of the Dutch fleet and as governor of Banda 1623-27). Jansz was awarded a chain of honour in 1619 for his part in capturing four ships of the British East India Company which had aided the Javanese in their defence of the town of Jakarta against the Dutch. In 1628 he retired to the Netherlands with the rank of admiral. The Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, (Dutch: Nederlands Indië) was the name of the colonies colonised by the Dutch East India Company which came under administration of the Netherlands during the ninteenth century (see Indonesia). ... Events March 24 - Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England April 28 – Funeral of Elizabeth I of England in Westminster Abbey July 17 or July 19 - Sir Walter Raleigh arrested for treason. ... Events November 1 - At Whitehall Palace in London, William Shakespeares romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time. ... Events January 20 - Mathias becomes Holy Roman Emperor. ... Events Dirk Hartog lands on an island off the Western Australian coast Pocahontas arrives in England War between Venice and Austria Collegium Musicum founded in Prague Nicolaus Copernicus De revolutionibus is placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Roman Catholic Church Births May 18 - Johann Jakob Froberger, German... Events March 8 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion (he soon rejects the idea after some initial calculations were made but on May 15 confirms the discovery). ... Events March 1 - writs were issued in February 1628 by Charles I of England that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date. ... Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ... Events A Dutch ship makes the first recorded sighting of the coast of South Australia. ... Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... The British East India Company, sometimes referred to as John Company, was a joint-stock company of investors, which was granted a Royal Charter by Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, with the intent to favour trade privileges in India. ... Map of Indonesia showing Jakarta Jakarta (also Djakarta or DKI Jakarta) is the capital and the largest city of Indonesia, located on the northwest coast of the island of Java, at 6°11′ S 106°50′ E. It has an area of 650 km² and a population of 8. ... Events March 1 - writs were issued in February 1628 by Charles I of England that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date. ...

The original journals and charts made during Jansz's 1606 voyage have been lost, but the National Library of Austria in Vienna holds a copy of the map made around 1670. The map, which shows the location of the first landfall in Australia by the Duyfken, is part of the Atlas Blaeu Van der Hem, brought to Vienna in 1730 by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Events January 27 - The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins ending in their execution on January 31 May 17 - Supporters of Vasili Shusky invade the Kremlin and kill pretender Dmitri December 26 - Shakespeares King Lear performed in court Storm buries a village of St Ismails near... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). ... 1670 was a common year beginning on a Saturday in countries using the Julian calendar and a Wednesday in countries using the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Pope Clement XII elected September 17 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed III (1703-1730) to Mahmud I (1730-1754) Anna Ivanova (Anna I of Russia) became czarina Births May 13 - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. ... Eugene of Savoy (part of a statue in front of the Hofburg in Vienna) François-Eugène, Prince of Savoy-Carignan, known as Prinz Eugen von Savoyen in German (October 16, 1663-April 24, 1736) was a noted general. ...

* The surname Jansz means "son of Jan", or son of "Johannes" (Janszoon in Dutch). This is similar to Johnson in English. Surnames were often not used and children were simply named for their father's given name. In areas where not many people lived he would simply have been given the name Willem Jansz. So all we know about him is that his father's name was Johannes, or Jan. Like many countries genealogy and historical research in the Netherlands can be a nightmare for this reason.

External link

• The Voyage of the Duyfken Replica, 1999 (http://www.carijansen.com/ships/duyfken/duyfken.html)