Willem de Vlamingh
Dutch sea captain Willem Hesselsz de Vlamingh (November 1640 – c. 1698) explored Australia's central west coast in a fruitless search for missing Ridderschap van Holland.
He landed on Rottnest Island, discovered and spent four days investigating the Swan River and charted the continent's western coast as far as Northwest Cape.
Frequent landings failed to find anything of economic significance.
However, he did find and replace the plate Dirk Hartog left when he landed on the coast in 1616.
Vlamingh was the commodore of a fleet that left Batavia in February 1698 and is presumed to have died en route between the Cape of Good Hope and Amsterdam.
