Bruny d'Entrecasteaux, Joseph-Antoine Raymond (1739 - 1793)

Summary

Joseph-Antoine Bruny d'Entrecasteaux was a French naval officer noted for his skill in hydrography and navigation. He joined the navy at 15 to serve in the Seven Years' War. In the following peace he spent more than 20 years in the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. Appointed Commander of the Indian Station in 1786, he made his first significant exploratory voyage, finding a new route to China through the Sunda Strait and the Moluccas. He then served as Governor of Ile de France and Ile de Bourbon. In 1791 Bruny d'Entrecasteaux was selected to lead a voyage to seek traces of the explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse. Commanding the ship Recherche and accompanied by Espérance, his orders were to go to Van Diemen's Land, and then to the Friendly Islands and New Caledonia, following La Pérouse's likely route. Naturalists on the expedition included Jacques-Julien Labillardière and Claude Riche. Having left Brest in September 1791, in April 1792 the expedition reached Van Diemen's Land. By July they were in the Admiralty Islands and, after sailing through the Indonesian islands, reached Cape Leeuwin in November and returned to Van Diemen's Land. From there they headed for New Caledonia. No trace of La Pérouse was found. Bruny d'Entrecasteaux died in New Guinean waters on the voyage home. He is commemorated in Bruny Island and the d'Entrecasteaux Channel, both in Tasmania.

Related entries

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Joseph Antoine Bruni d' Entrecasteaux - Records, 1789 - 1794, B1213-60; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

Published resources

Books

• Johnson, Dianne, Bruny d'Entrecasteaux and his Encounter with Tasmanian Aborigines: from Provence to Recherche Bay (Lawson, N.S.W.: Blue Mountain Education and Research Trust, 2012), 121 pp. Details
• Labillardiere, Jacques Julien Houtou de, Relation de la voyage à le recherche de la Pérouse, fait par ordre de l'Assemblée Constituante pendant les années 1791, 1792 et pendant la 1e la 2e années de la République Française Paris 2 vols, 2 vols (Paris: H. J. Hansen, 1799-1800). Details
• Labillardiere, Jacques Julien Houtou de, Voyage in search of la Pérouse performed by order of the Constituent Assembly during the years 1791, 1792, 1793 and 1794, 2 vols (London: John Stockdale, 1800). Details
• Marchant, Leslie, France Australe: a study of French exploration and attempts to found a penal colony and strategic base in south western Australia 1503-1826 (Perth: Artlook Press, 1982), 384 pp. Details
• Plomley, Brian; and Piard-Bernier, Josiane, The general: the visits of the expedition led by Bruny d'Entrecasteaux to Tasmanian waters in 1792 and 1793 (Launceston, Tas.: Queen Victoria Museum, 1993), 379 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Carr, S. G. M.; and Carr, D. J., 'A charmed life: the collections of Labillardiere' in People and plants in Australia, Carr, D. J. and Carr, S. G. M., eds (Sydney: Academic Press, 1981), pp. 79-115. Details
• Marchant, Leslie R., 'Bruny D'Entrecasteaux, Joseph-Antoine Raymond (1739-1793), admiral and navigator' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 171-172. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bruny-dentrecasteaux-joseph-antoine-raymond-1841. Details
• Mulvaney, John, 'Meeting the Tasmanians' in Rediscovering Recherche Bay, Mulvaney, John and Tyndale-Biscoe, Hugh, eds (Canberra: Academy of Social Sciences in Australia for the National Academies Forum, 2007), pp. 59-68. Details

Edited Books

• Douglas, Bronwen; Veys, Fanny Wonu; and Lythberg, Billie eds, Collecting in the South Sea: the voyage of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux 1791-1794 (Leiden, Netherlands: Sidestone Press, 2018), 340 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Chevalier, A., 'Un grand voyageur naturaliste normand J.-J. La Billardière (1755 - 1834)', Revue internationale de botanique appliquée et d’agriculture, 32 (1953), 97-124. Details
• Harrison, Carol E., 'Projections of the Revolutionary Nation: French Expeditions in the Pacific, 1791-1803', Osiris, 24 (2009), 33-52. Details
• Hogg, G. H., 'D'Entrecasteaux: an account of his life, his expeditions and his officers', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1937 (1937), 53-74. Details
• Hulot, Etienne, Baron, 'D'Entrecasteaux 1737 - 1793', Bulletin de la Société géologique de France (1894), 1-143. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q550615. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/22440895. Details
• 'Entrecasteaux, Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni (1739-17930720)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1225916. Details

See also

• Brosse, Jacques; translated by Hochman, Stanley, Great voyages of exploration: the golden age of discovery in the Pacific (Lane Cove, N.S.W.: Doubleday Australia, 1983), 228 pp. Details
• Carr, S. G. M. and Carr, D. J., 'The French contribution to the discovery of Australia and its flora', Endeavour, 35 (1976), 21-6. Details
• Mulvaney, John and Tyndale-Biscoe, Hugh eds, Rediscovering Recherche Bay (Canberra: Academy of Social Sciences in Australia for the National Academies Forum, 2007), 156 pp. Details