November meeting - The Story of the Botanist Leschenault on the Baudin Expedition

Date: Thursday, November 5
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Bussselton Senior Citizen’s Centre

Guest speaker Paul Gibbard, presenting:

The French Connection: The Story of the Botanist Leschenault on the Baudin Expedition

In 1801, French botanist Théodore Leschenault joined Nicolas Baudin’s expedition to explore the Australian coastline. During the voyage, he documented and collected an extraordinary range of Australian plants and wildlife.

The expedition explored much of the Western Australian coastline, including our own south-west region. Leschenault’s name lives on in local places such as the Leschenault Estuary and Leschenault Peninsula.

Paul Gibbard, a researcher and Senior Lecturer in French Studies at the University of Western Australia, has undertaken extensive research into Leschenault’s life and translated his long-lost journal and letters.

This promises to be a fascinating insight into early French exploration, botanical discoveries and an important part of Western Australia’s natural history.

This meeting is open to the public.