![Trim](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Trim._Matthew_Flinders%27_boat_cat..jpg)
Trim was a
ship's cat who accompanied
Matthew Flinders on his voyages to
circumnavigate
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...
and map the coastline of
Australia in 1801–1803.
Biography
Trim was born in 1799 aboard the ship on a voyage from the
Cape of Good Hope to
Botany Bay
Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
. The kitten fell overboard, but managed to swim back to the vessel and climb aboard by scaling a rope; taking note of his strong survival instinct and intelligence, Flinders and the crew made him their favourite.
[
Trim sailed with Flinders on on his voyage of circumnavigation around the Australian mainland][ and survived the shipwreck of on ]Wreck Reef
The Wreck Reefs are located in the southern part of the Coral Sea Islands approximately east-north-east of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia.
Approximately east of the Swain Reefs complex they form a narrow chain of reefs with small cays tha ...
in 1803. When Flinders was accused of spying and imprisoned by the French in Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
on his return voyage to England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, Trim shared his captivity until his unexplained disappearance, which Flinders attributed to his having been stolen and eaten by a hungry slave.
Description
Trim was a bicolour cat, being black with white paws, chin and chest. He was named after the butler in Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768), was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric who wrote the novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' and '' A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'', publishe ...
's novel ''Tristram Shandy Tristram may refer to:
Literature
* the title character of ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', a novel by Laurence Sterne
* the title character of '' Tristram of Lyonesse'', an epic poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne
*"Tristr ...
'', because Flinders considered him to be a faithful and affectionate friend.[ During his imprisonment, Flinders wrote a biographical tribute to Trim in which he described him as "one of the finest animals I ever saw... isrobe was a clear jet black, with the exception of his four feet, which seemed to have been dipped in snow and his under lip, which rivaled them in whiteness. He had also a white star on his breast."]
Legacy
Flinders wrote of Trim while still captive on the Isle de France in 1809.
In 1996, a bronze statue of Trim by sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
John Cornwell was erected on a window ledge of the Mitchell Library
The Mitchell Library is a large public library and centre of the City Council public library system of Glasgow, Scotland.
History
The library, based in the Charing Cross district, was initially established in Ingram Street in 1877 following a ...
in Sydney, directly behind a statue of his owner that was erected following the donation of Flinders' personal papers to the Library by his grandson in 1925. The popularity of the statue has since led to the development of a range of Trim merchandise by the State Library of New South Wales. The Library's cafe is also named after the cat.
The plaque under it says:
which is a part of the epitaph that Flinders had promised Trim.
Trim also features on the first statue of Flinders to be erected in England, which can be found in Donington, Lincolnshire
__NOTOC__
Donington is a large village and civil parish in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is north from the market town of Spalding on the A152, is bypassed by the A52, and sits between the A16 and A17. The parish i ...
, the birthplace of Flinders, and where it is planned that he will be reburied.
In addition, a large bronze statue of Matthew and Trim stands at Euston Railway Station in London, near where he was originally buried. A cast of the same statue is in Port Lincoln, South Australia
Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...
, and another cast of the same statue is also at the Flinders University campus in Adelaide, South Australia. A smaller version is on display in Lincoln Cathedral.
In Australian author Bryce Courtenay's 2002 novel, '' Matthew Flinders' Cat'', both the cat and the library statue feature as major characters.
See also
* List of individual cats
This is a list of famous cats which achieved some degree of popularity either in their own right or by association with someone famous.
Before the modern era
* Nedjem or Nojem ( Egyptian: ''nḏm'' "Sweet One" or "Sweetie"), 15th century BC. The ...
Further reading
*
*
*
*
References
External links
{{wikisource, A biographical tribute to the memory of Trim
Trim the Ship's Cat
Trim the Cat. State Library of NSW
A biographical tribute to the memory of Trim / by Matthew Flinders ; illustrated by Annette Macarthur-OnslowFlinders, Matthew, 1774–1814
Individual cats
Animal sculptures in Australia
1799 animal births
Cat monuments