Kenneth Morgan - Navigating by the Southern Cross: A History of the European Discovery and Exploration of Australia

This book has benefited from the help of several people and from the cooperation of numerous archives and libraries. Alex Wright offered wise counsel during the commissioning process. Adrian Webb and his colleagues at the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office discussed my work with me fruitfully, and offered a model service to academic researchers. Martin Woods and his team in the Maps Department of the National Library of Australia similarly provided positive support. Quentin Slade, a member of that department, gave valuable assistance in providing the maps used in this book. Maddie Holder and Abigail Lane steered me helpfully through Bloomsburys publication procedures. An anonymous referee for the publishers suggested useful revisions to the completed manuscript. From my home base in Twickenham, I was able to access relevant material in major institutions in libraries and archives in the Greater London area: the Humanities and Map reading rooms of the British Library, the British Museums Anthropology Library, the Library and Archives at the Natural History Museum, the Caird Library and Archive at the National Maritime Museum, the National Archives, the Royal Botanic Gardens Library and Archives, and the main library at University College London. Information was also gathered from several English provincial repositories: the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth; the Lincolnshire Archives; the Leicestershire and Rutland Record Office; Cambridge University Library; the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge; the National Meteorological Archive, Exeter; the Cheshire Record Office; and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, Ministry of Defence Archives, Taunton. A few items were gleaned from the Archives nationales France, Paris. The remaining research was undertaken in Australian libraries and archives familiar to me from previous projects: the National Library of Australia, Canberra; the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney; the Archives Office of Tasmania, Hobart; the Mitchell Library at the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney; the State Library of Victoria, Melbourne; the State Library of Western Australia, Perth; and the State Library of Queensland, Brisbane. Brunel University London provided financial support for some of the research trips. I must also thank my wife and family for their support in enabling me to complete this project in the time left available after carrying out full-time university lecturing, supervising and administrative duties.