The man credited with naming Australia, Matthew Flinders, is making one last journey to his final resting place in England as a coffin plate that identified his lost grave in London is sent down under for display. / (min cost $ 0 ) or signup to continue reading The remains of the leader of the first inshore circumnavigation of Australia more than 220 years ago have returned to his hometown of Donington in Lincolnshire to be reinterred in the church where he was baptised and married. Flinders died in London in 1814 but his grave site was lost when his headstone was removed.
It was only rediscovered by chance in 2019 when a lead plate bearing his name was found on a coffin during the construction of a high-speed train line in London. That plate is now being sent down under for display in South Australia. A statue of Flinders and his seagoing cat Trim now stands outside Euston station near where his grave was found.
Descendants and devotees of the famed mariner are attending a ceremony in Lincolnshire on Saturday to mark the reinterment. South Australian Governor Frances Adamson will be there along with a descendant of Bungaree, an Aboriginal man who joined Flinders in his circumnavigation. The Royal Navy will fire a gun volley over Flinders' new coffin and a guard of honour will be provided.
Governor Adamson will accept the coffin plate on behalf of the History Trust of South Australia and it is set to go on display first at the South Australian Maritime Museum, Port Adelaide. .