French Names Along the Australian Coastline

Introduction

French Names and the Memory of Australia’s Coasts

This website explores the distinctive legacy of French place-naming along Australia’s coastlines, tracing how these toponyms—many of which remain visible on modern maps—reflect layered histories of European exploration.

Set against the backdrop of the deep and enduring connection of First Nations peoples to Country, French naming practices stand alongside those of Dutch and British navigators, forming a complex palimpsest of meaning and memory.

By focusing on the 671 sites named during the expeditions of d’Entrecasteaux and Baudin, the website brings to light a distinctive French perspective that enriches our understanding of Australia’s coastal history and its entangled global and local contexts.

The d'Entrecasteaux Expedition (1791-1794)

General Chart of New Holland and the Archipelagos of the Great Ocean … by Beautemps-Beaupré, 1807

In Search of Lapérouse

The expedition’s primary objective—the search for the missing Lapérouse—ended in failure. No trace of his two ships or their crews was found on the islands sighted in the western Pacific.

However, the second component of the mission proved highly successful: the charting of coastlines in the Southern Lands that remained only partially known to Europeans. These achievements restored morale after a difficult passage across the southern Indian Ocean in heavy seas.

Cartographic achievements

The expedition visited the east coasts of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in April–May 1792 and again in late January–February 1793. It also explored the south-west coasts of New Holland (Western Australia) in late December 1792–January 1793.

In total, 68 new place names were bestowed along these shores, honouring mainly members of the expedition and the geographical features discovered.

Cap Raoul

Views of different parts of Van Diemen’s Land: cap Raoul with the vertical columns of dolerite that form its tip
Piron, Jean & Schoeder & Beautemps-Beaupré, C. F & France.
In Atlas du voyage de Bruny d’Entrecasteaux (1807).

Source: National Library of Australia

The Baudin Expedition (1800-1804)

Map by Freycinet, 1812

A Nomenclature Shaped by Political Upheaval

The place names associated with the Baudin expedition were assigned in an unusual manner: not during the voyage itself, but in Paris between 1806 and 1807—three years after Baudin’s death and following the return of the corvettes.

A Changing Political Context

Between the expedition’s departure and the publication of its results, France experienced three successive regimes: the Directory (which prepared the voyage), the Consulate (under which it was commissioned), and the Napoleonic Empire (during which the maps were published).

This political transformation left a clear imprint on the nomenclature. The selected place names reflect these successive regimes: some honour General Bonaparte, others the First Consul, and many celebrate Emperor Napoleon and members of the imperial family.

A Renewed National Spirit

The 603 place names selected by Péron and Freycinet vividly illustrate the evolution of French national sentiment during the Napoleonic period, supplanting the republican ideals that had originally shaped Baudin’s expedition.

More than eighty per cent of the names commemorate French figures distinguished in science, literature, military service, or public administration—transforming the map of Australia’s coasts into a symbolic reflection of France’s renewed sense of unity, prestige, and imperial ambition.

South-West New Holland

Cape Marengo (spelled Maringo) and Cap des Représentations (Baudin’s original designation), subsequently renamed Cap Suffren by Péron and Freycinet (the name inscribed in pencil above “Représentations” on the manuscript), now Point Grey — 30 March 1802.
Ink-wash coastal surveys of the southern lands by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur or Nicolas-Martin Petit.

Source: Archives nationales de France

Two Contrasting Nomenclatures

Traditionally, it was the commander of an expedition who named newly identified places. This convention was observed in the case of d’Entrecasteaux’s expedition, despite his death during the voyage.

The fate of the Baudin expedition’s toponyms was markedly different. Following Baudin’s death, in an episode without parallel among the major European voyages of exploration, the zoologist François Péron and the naval officer Louis Freycinet—appointed, at their own request, as editors of the voyage’s narrative and atlases—replaced most of the original place names.

They substituted Baudin’s designations—largely inspired by natural history and the lived experience of the expedition—with new appellations honouring the French nation and its illustrious figures. This transformation occurred at a time when maritime exploration and the discovery of distant lands no longer occupied a central place in Napoleonic imperial priorities.