Dirk Hartog Island is of the greatest historical importance, being the site of the earliest recorded European landfall on the Western Australian coast.

Hartog & de Vlamingh Plates
In 1616, Dirk Hartog, in the Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship Eendracht, commemorated his landing at Cape Inscription at the north of the Island by placing an inscribed pewter plate on a post.

Then, in 1697 when Willem de Vlamingh's fleet visited the island, they found his plate and de Vlamingh took it. He placed his own inscribed pewter plate in its place repeating Hartog's message and adding one of his own... more...

De St Aloüarn Annexation
In 1771, de Kerguelen, a young, ambitious naval officer and Breton noble, had his fleet commissioned by the King of France, Louis XV, to discover and then claim Terra Australis. De Saint Aloüarn, his second in command and master of the Gros Ventre, became separated from the main party and landed at Turtle Bay. Following instructions he took possession of the land in the name of France... more...