In early 1793, Hayes undertook a privately backed commercial and exploratory voyage aboard the
Duke of Clarence, accompanied by the
Duchess, a smaller
snow of 100 tons. The expedition was organised in
Calcutta by a group of
East India Company merchants—Udney, Frushard, and Laprimandaye—interested in the spice trade. Hayes, Captain Court, and a Mr. Robertson agreed to serve without pay, with only their living expenses covered. The expedition departed Calcutta on 6 February 1793. Originally intending to sail to western New Guinea, the ships encountered unexpected southeast trade winds and altered course. On 24 April, they reached
Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), and Hayes landed the following day at
Adventure Bay, unaware that the French expedition under
Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux had departed from the same location only weeks earlier. Hayes undertook extensive coastal surveys in southeastern Tasmania, naming features such as
Risdon Cove,
Ralphs Bay, and Court’s Island. He renamed the French
Rivière du Nord the
River Derwent, and further inland he identified what he called
King George’s Plains. He also designated the estuary as ''Fletcher Hayes' Gulf''. His chart of Van Diemen’s Land, dedicated to
John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth, chairman of the East India Company, bore a number of English place names. These included
New Yorkshire (north of the Derwent),
New Cumberland (west of what is now
D'Entrecasteaux Channel), and
The Honourable William Pitt’s Isle (now
Bruny Island). D’Entrecasteaux Channel itself appeared on Hayes’s map as
Seton’s Strait, named after another company merchant, while
Betsey Island may have been named for a Bombay Marine vessel. Though Hayes later realised many of his ‘discoveries’ had already been recorded by the French, his charts were still influential.
Matthew Flinders used a copy during his
circumnavigation of Tasmania in 1798–99, correcting terminology but preserving most names. During the expedition, tensions emerged with Mr. Robertson, the supercargo, who challenged Hayes’s authority and attempted to assert ownership over the ships. Hayes confined him and reported the matter to Calcutta authorities. Hayes continued his voyage on 9 June, departing for
New Caledonia, again unknowingly retracing the path of d’Entrecasteaux. In correspondence, Hayes expressed pride in his discoveries, writing: “I have discovered a strait abounding with many fine harbours... On the west side... some fine plains extending to the foot of a large mountain... I called [them] King George’s Plains.” He recorded the location at 42°47′30″ S, 147°30′54″ E, noting the presence of white
cockatoos and colourful stones akin to
carnelian. Although ultimately overshadowed by French explorers and British surveyors like Flinders and
George Bass, Hayes's 1793 voyage was a significant early British exploration of southeastern Tasmania. His naming of
Risdon Cove proved especially enduring: a decade later, it became the site of the first British settlement in Tasmania under
Lieutenant John Bowen. ==References==