Newspaper item - Pall-Mall, London, May 29 1814
Next month will be published by Order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, in Two Vols. royal 4to. illustrated with views and one very large Folio of Charts, Headlands and Botanical Subjects.
A Voyage to Terra Australis; undertaken for the purpose of completing the Discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802 and 1803, in His Majesty’s ship the Investigator; and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise, and Cumberland Schooner. With an Account of the Shipwreck of the Porpoise, the Arrival of the Cumberland at Mauritius, and Imprisonment of the Commander during six years and a half in that island.
By Matthew FLINDERS, Commander of the Investigator.
Printed by W Bulmer and Co. Cleveland Row, St James’ and published by G and W Nicol, Booksellers to His Majesty, Pall Mall London.
Seems to me a fair chance that William GOODWILL was minding his own business as a seaman or fisherman and was press ganged into joining the navy.
Update to what I said earlier - it looks like quite a few of the Porpoise's crew were discharged on 19th July, Including William Goodwill. So it may be that with the Investigator having been given up as unseaworthy they may have consolidated the crews from the four vessels and discharged a portion of them in Sidney. So William may not have been involved in the shipwreck of the Porpoise.
As for being imprisoned by the French this is only mentioned as being Captain Flinders and the Mate so not the general crew of the Cumberland. Though it may be the newspapers just thought they were not worth mentioning.
Further update having been reading up about Matthew FLINDERS whose grave was discovered as part of the HS2 work near Euston Station.
Appears that the earlier survey work on the Investigator was by that ship alone and not as part of a fleet with the Porpoise. The Porpoise was around the Cape of Good Hope in late 1800 going by some men having been discharged there as shown by Musters lists. Most men on the Porpoise seem to have been put down as left the service on 19th July 1803 by Certificate of Governor King who I think was in charge at Sydney at the time. From what I have read the Porpoise was not wrecked until a few weeks later in August but that seem like a typical navy trick.Paying them off from when they left Sydney and not for the time after that until they were wrecked and not even for the weeks they spent waiting to be rescued.
I've taken a couple of small clips of what appears to be the last Muster Roll; with William GOODWILL five up from the bottom. Just need to remember how to attach them.
Half an hour of faffing around and i think the problem is not my dotage but that images are not allowed on Lookup Requests boards. Never mind you have the basic data and the images are on FindmyPast for those with a subscription or free trial. May be on Ancestry and MyHeritage etc but I have not looked there.
