Matthew Flinders
Bring Him Home

Captain Matthew Flinders RN, Son of Donington, Lincolnshire

BRING HIM HOME

MATTHEW FLINDERS imageMATTHEW FLINDERS image
Matthew Flinders was a great seafaring explorer, charting much of Australia’s coastline despite a series of trials and wild adventures. An outstanding sailor, surveyor, navigator and scientist, he was a considerate and self-sacrificing leader who looked after all under his command.

Once Matthew's remains were discovered, the MFBHH group was set up to ensure that he would be reburied in Donington, Lincolnshire, England - his birth place and home.

This was Donington's chance to come together to bring Flinders home! Thousands joined us as we celebrated his life and prepared for his reburial with a fabulous village weekend event, special guests and great interest from across the other side of the world in Australia.


The date was confirmed !       Saturday 13th July 2024.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country which Matthew Flinders visited and mapped during his voyages in Australia. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website may contain images or names of people who have died

MFBHH
YouTube Channel
Livestream Recordings
of the Ceremony available and photo montage.



 

9AM

Donington Fire Station. Visitors popped along to test their skills, water sponge a firefighter and enjoy a cuppa and cake.

13/07/2024
 

10 A.M

The church bells will started to ring until just before the service at 2PM.

13/07/2024
 

12:00 Midday

The Party in the Park team welcomed everyone to a day of fun in Donington. The streets were full of bunting and decorated shops and homes as visitors could visit the popular village market. Flinders Park and the marquee was home to many events throughout the day. 🔹Fair ground rides, fun house in the street and games 🔹Competitions for adults and children 🔹Food, drink and even the Matthew Flinders cocktail 🔹History of Matthew Flinders in the library 🔹Children’s Disco 🔹Tug of War

13/07/2024
 

1:45 PM

Captain Flinders started the journey home as his hearse arrived at Station Street Roundabout to Cowley Academy Sports Field, Quadring Road. At about 2 PM the hearse will arrived at Church street.

13/07/2024
 

2 PM

Livestream was available in the marquee in Flinders Park for anyone who wished to watch from there. It was also available on the MFBHH YouTube channel. This covered the main service and presentation ceremony.

13/07/2024
 

2 PM

Matthew Flinders, was carried through Church Street, to parade to the Church joined on route by the clergy led by the Bishop, Church Wardens, a Navy Guard of Honour and Sea Cadets. At the Church there was a display of Naval Standards / RNA Guard of Honour and a parade of Sea Cadets.

13/07/2024
 

2:30PM

A Naval firing party fired a salute for Captain Flinders before a church service led by the Bishop of Lincoln began.

13/07/2024
 

2:30pm

Church service for invited attendees and family.

13/07/2024
 

4 PM

TUG OF WAR ! Flinders Park

13/07/2024
 

4:30 PM

Service, presentations and ceremony were completed as events continued in the village into the evening!

13/07/2024
 

5 PM - 6 PM

Children's disco in the Marquee at Flinders Park.

13/07/2024
 

5PM - 7PM

Flinders Founders Whizz Wheels competition. Teen Park

13/07/2024
 

6 PM

Flinders Park - Music through the ages.

13/07/2024
 

7 PM

Flinders Boat Race! Flinders Park Band Stand.

13/07/2024
 

7:45 PM

Presentation to winners. Flinders Park

13/07/2024
 

10:30 PM

Fireworks to complete a fabulous day.

13/07/2024
Absolutely, anybody could join Donington to celebrate the return of Captain Matthew Flinders.  Only the church service was for previously balloted attendees.
The hearse completed a slow drive through the village from Station Street Roundabout to Cowley Academy Sports Field, Quadring Road at about 1:45 and arrived in Church Street for about 2pm to parade to the Church.
Church service seating was balloted earlier tin 2024, as the only fair way to offer attendance. 
However,  a Livestream was put in place on our YouTube channel, also shown in Flinders Park during the day
For the Service on Sunday 14th July - Church Doors were open to whoever wished to attend until the Church was full. It was a Holy Communion Service led by the Bishop of Grantham
We showed the parade, service and presentations on our livestream service at our YouTube channel.  Search YouTube for Matthew Flinders Bring Him Home, or follow the link http://www.youtube.com/@MatthewFlindersBringHimH-uu6gd

The livestream was recorded and is still available to view. 
Yes!  The Bell Ringing was muffled to make a duller sound than usual - this is traditional for a funeral - and we were delighted to have the team from Long Sutton to ring for us.
Watch this space!  We are working on completing a documentary that focuses on the reburial, scenes from the day.  Views from the parade, inside the church and even airborne from our drone!
On the Trail of Flinders, a documentary.

On the Trail of Flinders, a documentary.

04/07/2024

We are excited to be able to announce that we are to offer the exclusive first showing of Tim Purcell's documentary 'On the Trail of Flinders' Tim says that this will focus on Flinders' 6 and a half years imprisonment in Mauritius, which we propose screening in Donington as part of the Flinders events in July. Click the link to watch the trailer!

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Flinders Fortnight ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH PARTNEY

Flinders Fortnight ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH PARTNEY

29/05/2024

St. Nicholas Church, where Matthew married Ann, is holding a “ Flinders Fortnight” - this is either side of his reburial on the 13th July. We will have our Captain Matthew Flinders history display in church, to mark this incredible event.

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Matthew Flinders 250th Birthday Celebration

Matthew Flinders 250th Birthday Celebration

25/02/2024

Join us for cake and wine as we celebrate with our friends in Tasmania by live link.

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PETITION Scientific Achievements of Matthew Flinders to be Recognised by The Royal Society.

PETITION Scientific Achievements of Matthew Flinders to be Recognised by The Royal Society.

12/03/2024

Please take a couple of minutes to sign the petition to have Matthew Flinders' achievements to be recognised by the Royal Society

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Public Open Meeting Monday 11th March

Public Open Meeting Monday 11th March

25/02/2024

Your opportunity to join the MFBHH Group and Donington Parish Council to find out what events are lined up for the big weekend in July.

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Documentary series  - 'An Adventurer Returns'

Documentary series - 'An Adventurer Returns'

07/01/2024

From our friend Tim Purcell. Unfortunately the feature film, Unchartered Waters, will not be ready for July, but there are still plans to be able to have the TV documentary series, 'An Adventurer Returns' completed by then with a big 'name' confirmed as Presenter. This will also be part of a campaign to have Matthew Flinders recognised by the Royal Society with a posthumous Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his scientific achievements with the support of many academics and organisations including the Royal Institute of Navigation, the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia and the Royal Society of South Australia. Follow the link to the Flinders teaser video - featuring Henry Esdon as Matthew Flinders - as he will be in the documentary.

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Open Public Meeting (NOW FINISHED - thankyou for all those who attended!)

Open Public Meeting (NOW FINISHED - thankyou for all those who attended!)

06/10/2023

A public meeting will share the plans in place to welcome home Donington’s most famous son

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Tim Purcell’s film, Flinders – Unchartered Waters

Tim Purcell’s film, Flinders – Unchartered Waters

17/09/2023

Proposals for a dramatic feature film about the famous explorer and a campaign to make him a posthumous Fellow of the Royal Society are in the pipeline.

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We have a date !

We have a date !

06/08/2023

The remains of a Lincolnshire explorer credited with naming Australia will be reburied in his home village in 2024. Saturday 13th July 2024 is the date set aside for the reburial, with a weekend from 12th to the 14th of activities to mark the special occasion.

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Funding boost !

Funding boost !

03/08/2023

Donington’s Bring Matthew Flinders home campaign wins £35,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund

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Work begins !

Work begins !

20/07/2023

Plans are now in preparation for the reinterment which is to be in the North Aisle of the Church - adjacent to the Flinders Stained Glass Window. The preparation work has already started following Church permissions. This involves an archaeological survey of this part of the church and to be present during the dig. The design and creation of an appropriate Ledger Stone for on top of the grave to provide an appropriate and permanent tribute to this great man is already underway, with the stone coming from Ireland to match other ledgers in the church.

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He's coming home!

He's coming home!

17/10/2019

Its been confirmed that Flinders' remains will be reinterred at St Mary and the Holy Rood Church in Donington. This has been agreed by Lincoln Cathedral and the Faculties. We are excited to plan for his return, with your help, and make the long weekend event in 2024 something Donington can be proud of. Watch this space for more details!

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MFBHH Group image
The Matthew Flinders Bring Him Home Group was established early in 2019 with the aim of influencing the return of Matthew Flinders' mortal remains to Donington for their final reinterrment.

 The Group is made up of local volunteers. The Group is also supportive of the Flinders display material in the Church and would like to raise funds to ensure the materials on display are continually updated.

Inevitably due to the worldwide Corona Virus pandemic all plans for Matthew's return to Donington, which we had hoped would be in July 2020, were put on hold. We therefore had multiple services to enable the maximum possible opportunities for the many people wanting to join us to be involved.




The Group also has a very active Facebook Page, please click to learn more! - MFBHH
9 News Australia

9 News Australia

02/08/2024

210 years after he died, Captain Matthew Flinders has been laid to rest in his hometown in the English countryside. The remains of the first man to circumnavigate Australia were found under a London railway station.

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BBC RADIO LINCOLNSHIRE The final voyage of Captain Matthew Flinders

BBC RADIO LINCOLNSHIRE The final voyage of Captain Matthew Flinders

16/07/2024

From the BBC Sounds site, membership required

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ITV News

ITV News

15/07/2024

Captain Matthew Flinders: Explorer who 'named Australia' reburied at Lincolnshire birthplace

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7News Sydney

7News Sydney

14/07/2024

It was both a homecoming and a farewell for one of Britain's greatest explorers

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ABC Australia

ABC Australia

14/07/2024

Explorer Matthew Flinders reburied at birthplace in United Kingdom

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BBC: Australia explorer laid to rest in village

BBC: Australia explorer laid to rest in village

13/07/2024

A 19th Century explorer credited with mapping and naming Australia has been laid to rest in the village of his birth.

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BBC Look North

BBC Look North

16/07/2024

As seen on TV!

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Royal Navy News

Royal Navy News

16/07/2024

Royal Navy navigator and key figure in birth of Australia reburied with full honours.

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The Guardian

The Guardian

12/07/2024

Matthew Flinders, the flute-playing, cat-loving explorer who circumnavigated Australia, is going home – but what of his envoy Bungaree?

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Matthew Flinders, the man who mapped Australia is reburied

Matthew Flinders, the man who mapped Australia is reburied

10/07/2024

Jane Pearson chats with ABC Radio, Australia

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Celebrating the cartographer who circumnavigated Australia.

Celebrating the cartographer who circumnavigated Australia.

06/07/2024

Matthew Flinders’ final journey, centuries after he put Australia on the map The British Naval Captain Matthew Flinders (1774 - 1814) could never have imagined that he would be reburied with fanfare in 2024, almost 200 years after his extraordinary life was cut short. 

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Village set for 'spectacle' of explorer's reburial

Village set for 'spectacle' of explorer's reburial

04/07/2024

A Lincolnshire village is preparing for hundreds of guests to attend the reburial of a 19th Century explorer credited with mapping and naming Australia.

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Grand send off' for explorer who named Australia

Grand send off' for explorer who named Australia

27/04/2024

A grand naval ceremony with hundreds of guests from around the world is being planned for the reburial of Lincolnshire explorer Matthew Flinders.

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The long journey to bring Captain Matthew Flinders back home for July reburial

The long journey to bring Captain Matthew Flinders back home for July reburial

01/04/2024

Captain Matthew Flinders, the Lincolnshire explorer credited for naming Australia, will be reburied during three days of church services in his home village of Donington near Spalding this summer.

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Calendar News - Flinders 250th birthday

Calendar News - Flinders 250th birthday

18/03/2024

MFBHH made the Calendar News.

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Matthew Flinders descendants join Donington residents for live link-up with Australia to celebrate his 250th birthday

Matthew Flinders descendants join Donington residents for live link-up with Australia to celebrate his 250th birthday

17/03/2024

Relatives of explorer Matthew Flinders joined residents of his home village and friends from across the globe to celebrate the 250th birthday of the man who was the first to circumnavigate Australia.

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Matthew Flinders 250th Birthday Special Collections

Matthew Flinders 250th Birthday Special Collections

18/03/2024

Professor Colin Stirling and Dr Gillian Dooley share rare items from the Matthew Flinders collection at Flinders University.

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Party in The Park to Celebrate the homecoming of Matthew Flinders

Party in The Park to Celebrate the homecoming of Matthew Flinders

10/03/2024

Donington is gearing up for a big year when people will travel from across the globe to watch navigator Matthew Flinders be buried within St Mary and the Holy Rood Church on July 13.

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Matthew Flinders Party in The Park Group

Matthew Flinders Party in The Park Group

27/02/2024

A new group running alongside the MFBHH group to organise a fabulous day of events. A celebration of Matthew Flinders coming home to Donington, Lincolnshire on Saturday 13th July 2024. they have a whole day of entertainment planned, from music, market, food, games and much more. Let’s make it a day to remember.

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Donington residents urged to do their bit to help make Matthew Flinders homecoming memorable

Donington residents urged to do their bit to help make Matthew Flinders homecoming memorable

31/10/2023

Residents are being urged to rally around and do their bit to ensure the final homecoming of one of South Holland’s most famous sons is a memorable occasion the village can be proud of.

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Donington hero Matthew Flinders’ breastplate from his original coffin will go on display in Australia

Donington hero Matthew Flinders’ breastplate from his original coffin will go on display in Australia

30/10/2023

The remains of explorer Matthew Flinders will be laid to rest in a replica of his original coffin, members of the community were told last week.

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MP Sir John Hayes calls for Matthew Flinders to be made fellow of Royal Society

MP Sir John Hayes calls for Matthew Flinders to be made fellow of Royal Society

29/10/2023

South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes calls for Donington-born Matthew Flinders, the first to circumnavigate Australia, to be made fellow of Royal Society.

Read More
Calendar News September 2023

Calendar News September 2023

28/09/2023

Matthew Flinders: Explorer who 'named' Australia to be reburied in Lincolnshire.

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Preparations underway - Spalding Today

Preparations underway - Spalding Today

13/08/2023

Preparations are made within Donington’s St Mary and the Holy Rood Church for the return of explorer Matthew Flinders.

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Flinders remains to be reburied - Boston Standard

Flinders remains to be reburied - Boston Standard

09/08/2023

An eighteenth century British explorer is set to make his final voyage when his remains are brought back to his home county of Lincolnshire.

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When Matthew died in 1814, he was still living in London working with the Publishers of his great works A Voyage to Terra Australis. So his remains were buried in London. The location of Flinders' grave in St. James's Garden, a former burial ground, was unknown by the mid-19th century. 

From 1789 to 1853, the site was used as an overflow cemetery for St. James’ Church, in Piccadilly. Later alterations to the churchyard obliterated his grave. 
Back in 1852, Flinders’ sister-in-law, Isabella Tyler, visited the St. James’ cemetery and reported that his grave was gone. In a letter written years later, Flinders’ daughter reported that her aunt “found the churchyard remodeled, and quantities of tombstones and graves with their contents had been carted away as rubbish, among them that of my unfortunate father, thus pursued by disaster after death as in life.” 

Research shows Flinders’ remains were almost certainly moved to an unmarked grave (or possibly just dumped) just a little to the east of their original spot, as part of the modern Euston station.

It was finally rediscovered 200 years later in January 2019 when his remains were unearthed during an archaeological excavation preceding a major new railway development. 

Archaeologists working with High-Speed 2, a planned railway linking London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, planned to exhume up to 61,000 bodies from the former burial ground located next to Euston Station in north London. Flinders, was believed to be buried somewhere near the station. 
A lead plate bearing his name clearly identified his resting place, much to the excitement of Donington and Australia!  The race to bring him home was on...

As soon as this find was publicised, people from Donington began the campaign to have him brought back to Donington as his final resting place. 

The Matthew Flinders Bring Him Home Group was established with this sole aim. The Group worked with Matthew's direct descendants, the Church Authorities at Lincoln, Sir John Hayes MP, who raised the issue in the House of Commons, and gained much support. 

The campaign was successful and on 17th October 2019 the decision was announced that Matthew's mortal remains would return to Donington for reburial.

Plans were put in place over years for the reinterment which was in the North Aisle of the Church,  adjacent to the Flinders Stained Glass Window. 


The preparation work involved an archaeological survey of this part of the church; church permissions / Faculties; the design and creation of an appropriate Ledger Stone for on top of the grave to provide an appropriate and permanent tribute to this great man. 

Fund raising for all of this was started, please see the Make A Donation section to support these works and to ensure Matthew has a permanent and fitting memorial!

                                                                                            St Mary and Holy Rood Church, Donington



Flinders was born on 16 March 1774, the oldest of seven children, in the market town of Donington, Lincolnshire, England, the son of Matthew Flinders, a surgeon - apothecary, and his wife Susannah, (née Ward). His home, pictured, is no longer there although a similar building has been built on the site, bearing a plaque to commemorate his birth place.

 He was educated at Donington Free School, founded by Thomas Cowley in 1718 for preparatory education and at aged 12 moved as a boarder to Horbling Grammar School under the direction of Rev. John Shinglar. There he was introduced to the Classics and Mathematics, the grounding for navigation, which he acknowledged later in life.  His father expected his son to follow the family tradition of becoming a doctor, however from an early age, Flinders had been enthralled with Daniel Defoe's  tale of Robinson Crusoe and dreamed of distant lands waiting to be discovered. He  later wrote:
“I burned to have adventures of my own. I felt as I read that there was born within my heart the ambition to distinguish myself by some important discovery.”


He was largely self-taught, having studied Greek classics, navigation techniques, and Captain Cook's voyages of discovery. 

A cousin, who was the governess for the family of Captain Thomas Pasley (1734-1808), a highly regarded British Royal Navy officer, had mentioned Matthew's ambition to go to sea. On meeting Flinders, Pasley was highly impressed by the young man's wealth of knowledge.  

Once Flinders had enlisted in the Royal Navy, Pasley secured him a place aboard the HMS Alert - this would be the start of an illustrious naval career.
Flinders enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1789 at the age of 15, and Pasley secured for him the position of a lieutenant's servant aboard HMS Alert. 
Flinders also served as a crew member under Pasley's command on HMS Scipio and learn the practical skills of being a sailor before becoming midshipman on the famous 74-gun fighting ship HMS Bellerophon in 1790, serving under William Bligh on a voyage to Tahiti in 1791. 
Flinders fought against the French in the naval battle of the Glorious First of June 1794.

In 1795 Flinders sailed to Australia in H.M.S. Reliance in which George Bass was surgeon. There, he carried out vital coastal survey work. He made two hazardous trips with Bass in small open boats, exploring Botany Bay and George's River on the first, and then, after a brief visit to Norfolk Island, going farther south to Lake Illawarra. He rejoined the Reliance for a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope to bring back livestock.


In 1798 Flinders, now lieutenant, joined the schooner Francis on a visit to the Furneaux Islands and carried out useful hydrographic work. A second visit to Norfolk Island followed, after which, in company with George Bass, he circumnavigated Van Diemen's Land in the sloop Norfolk from 7 October 1798 to 12 January 1799, and thus proved it to be an island. 


 In March 1800 he sailed for England in the Reliance, where reports of his outstanding ability had preceded him. While in England in 1801 he published his Observations on the Coasts of Van Diemen's Land, on Bass's Strait and its Islands, and on Part of the Coasts of New South Wales, but he was chiefly concerned with preparation for an expedition whose results were to place him among the foremost navigators of all time.
Flinders was promoted to commander in February 1801, and  was selected to command H.M.S. Investigator, a vessel over 334 tons. The Admiralty gave him the the task  to explore, in detail, among other places, that part of the south Australian coastline, then referred to as 'the Unknown Coast'.

In April 1801 he had married Ann Chappelle of Lincolnshire hoping to take her with him on his voyage. However, the Admiralty refused to permit it and therefore it would they would be 9 years before they would be reunited.

He reached Cape Leeuwin, southern Western Australia, late in 1801 after a passage which demonstrated his ability as a navigator and his attention to the welfare and health of his crew. Flinders set about mapping Australia’s ‘Unknown Coast’.

His precise, detailed maps are the result of his methodical practice of personally taking all bearings and returning each day to where the previous day’s work had ended.

The Investigator was resupplied and refitted in Sydney in May 1802, before Flinders began his circumnavigation of the continent, accompanied by an Aboriginal translator, Bungaree.

But the vessel was leaking badly as it reached the Gulf of Carpentaria. Flinders abandoned the charting work, but continued the circumnavigation to Sydney, limping back into port in June 1803.
Flinders hoped to return to England on the HMS Porpoise to procure another vessel to finish his surveying work, but the Porpoise struck  Wreck Reefs, part of the Great Barrier Reef, and sank approximately 700 miles (1,100 km) north of Sydney.  

Flinders expertly sailed her cutter 1130 kilometres back to Sydney, then arranged for the rescue of his wrecked shipmates, and subsequently sailed for England in another leaky boat, the 29 ton HMS Cumberland.

 However, the poor condition of this vessel forced him to put in at French-controlled Isle de France (now known as Mauritius) for repairs on 17 December 1803.  By this time war between Great Britain and France had broken out again, but Flinders hoped that his French passport (despite its being issued for the Investigator and not the Cumberland) and the scientific nature of his mission would allow him to continue on his way.

General Decaen, governor of Mauritius, was a faithful and honest servant of Emperor Napoleon, but his attitude to Flinders was overbearing, despite the obvious cause of his enforced arrival.  Decaen suspected that Flinders was a spy. Flinders also managed to insult Decaen by not taking off his hat in his presence or accepting a dinner invitation from his wife. Flinders was arrested as a spy and incarcerated for 6 years on the island, although for much of that time he was afforded freedom of the island.

Decaen referred the matter to the French government but this took time due to the general confusion of the war. Eventually, on 11 March 1806, Napoleon gave his approval for his release, however  Decaen still refused to allow Flinders to leave. By this stage he believed Flinders' knowledge of the island's defences would have encouraged Britain to attempt to capture it.

 Nevertheless, in June 1809 the Royal Navy began a blockade of the island, and in June 1810 Flinders was freed. Travelling via the Cape of Good Hope on Olympia, which was taking despatches back to Britain, he received a promotion to post-Captain, before continuing to England in May 1810, albeit now in deteriorating poor health.
Flinders finally returned to England in October 1810. He was in poor health but immediately resumed work preparing "A Voyage to Terra Australis" and his atlas of maps for publication.

 The lengthy full title of this book, which was first published in London in July 1814, was given, as was common at the time, a synoptic description: 

"A Voyage to Terra Australis: undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802, and 1803 in His Majesty's ship the Investigator, and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland Schooner. With an account of the shipwreck of the Porpoise, arrival of the Cumberland at Mauritius, and imprisonment of the commander during six years and a half in that island ". 

Today, original copies of the Atlas to Flinders' Voyage to Terra Australis are held at the Mitchell Library in Sydney as a portfolio that accompanied the book and included engravings of 16 maps, four plates of views and ten plates of Australian flora. 

Flinders' map of Terra Australis or Australia (the two parts of the double name of his 1804 manuscript reversed) was first published in January 1814 and the remaining maps were published before his atlas and book.

Flinders had wanted to refer to 'Australia' in the title, and although initially it was advised against it, the British Admiralty agreed in 1824 that the continent should be officially called Australia.

Flinders died, aged 40, on 19 July 1814 from kidney disease, at his London home at 14 London Street, later renamed Maple Street and now the site of the BT Tower. This was on the day after the book and atlas was published; Flinders never saw the completed work (as he was unconscious by that time), but his wife arranged the volumes on his bed covers so that he could touch them.
Flinders is remembered not only for his achievements but also for great improvements in the science of navigation, for his research on the action of the tides, and the affinity between the height of the barometer and the direction of the wind.

He is also noted and for his investigations into the deviation of the compass through the presence of iron in ships, a small iron rod placed near a ship’s compass is named Flinders bar, as he found it counteracted the vertical magnetism of a vessel.

In failing health he prepared his monumental work A Voyage to Terra Australis; an enlightening and fascinating story of brilliant navigation and discovery, achievement and tragedy, self-sacrifice and devotion. He paid noble tribute to his comrades suddenly swept away off the Unknown Coast; expresses spontaneous gratitude to the people of Mauritius who befriended him in the hour of need, and expressed sympathy and some understanding towards the Aboriginal people he encountered.


His moral character and devotion to duty were based on high ideals. His considerate and just treatment of the men who served with him won their confidence and respect. In his brief but brilliant career he surmounted difficulties and adversity, and his voyage in the Investigator endures as an imperishable monument to his undaunted spirit and outstanding ability.
Flinders was a humble explorer, naming nothing after himself, but in Australia today, Matthew Flinders' contribution to Australian history is recognised widely.
Many landmarks and streets are named after him, such as Flinders Bay, Flinders Ranges in South Australia, Flinders Street railway station in Melbourne, Flinders Chase National Park, and Flinders University to name but a few.

Memorials to his work are plenty in Australia – there are statues of him in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.


Donington in Lincolnshire, England, the birthplace of Flinders has a statue of him on the main street accompanied by his faithful friend, Trim. 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, and another cast of the same statue is also at the Flinders University Campus in Adelaide. A smaller version is on display in Lincoln Cathedral in Lincolnshire.
18Aug

The Flinders ledger stone is finished! 

This stone has been specially brought in from Ireland, to match the other ledger stones in the church. 

The highly talented Alan Micklethwaite has been painstakingly working on the ledger stone for us for many months, carving an image of The Investigator ship and Trim the cat. 


We at MFBHH are so very proud to present the stone to Donington for the reburial of Captain Matthew Flinders on the 13th July - a fitting centrepiece for the event.

It took five hours, two pump trucks a hoist and some effort to get it into the North Aisle of the church!  


24Jul

Coastal Community Choir and there version of Halleluja

A superb rendition of Hallelujah by the Coastal Community Choir at St Marys and the Holy Rood Church, Donington 13th July 2024.

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah 

Well my name is Matthew Flinders, I was born and raised in Donington and when I was fifteen I joined the Navy. 

I sailed with Captain Bligh aboard the ship called Providence then fought with Captain Pasley in the war against the French. 

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah

When I became a Lieutenant, I sailed round Van Diemens Land and commanded the ship Investigator.

 I surveyed the coast of Australia, I mapped it out and wrote a book, and coming home the French put me in prison. 

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah

Port Lincoln, Boston Islands, Bicker Islands, Kirton Point, Cape Donington.

I married Ann before I sailed, she stayed at home and it took 9 years, before I was free to sail home to England. 

At forty years I passed away, they buried me in St James, but now I'm coming home to rest where I was born. 

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah

Facebook

 

The Flinders cake is, quite simply, a work of art!



Modelled on the Flinders and Trim statue in the centre of Donington, multi award cake artist, Victoria White, tells us that it took her over 20 hours to make. The detail that has gone into this epic creation is superb.

Working from her home in Donington, Victoria carefully recreated the statue from a base of Victoria sponge (of course!)

She then crafted the white chocolate ganache to produce the figurine.  This was then coloured to complete the fabulous cake that was displayed in the church. 

It was almost a shame to then be eaten, but visitors at the Sunday service were able to sample the finished cake for themselves!

Don't worry though, Victoria saved Trim from the same fate - he is safe at her home!

For more pictures and video, head over to Victoria's Facebook page Victoria White Cake Design | Facebook or visit her website at https://victoriawhitecakedesign.co.uk/


02May

Robert Hartle worked as a Senior Archaeologist on the MOLA Headland excavation of St James’s burial ground, Euston, on behalf of Costain Skanska Joint Venture (CSjv) and HS2.  

Robert examines the burial of Captain Matthew Flinders, based on archaeological and documentary evidence, and describes why and how he set about trying to make a replica of Flinders’ coffin - the centre piece of his reburial.

photo Paul Braham

The excavation of the burial ground of St James’s (in use 1789 to 1853) was an extraordinary opportunity to study contemporary life and death in London, since it contained thousands of individuals from all walks of life; men, women and children, paupers and nobility, artists and musicians, soldiers and sailors, inventors and industrialists (https://molaheadland.com/why-do-archaeologists-get-excited-by-named-burials/). 

However, in January 2019, one individual’s burial which I helped identify and excavate received international interest - that of Captain Matthew Flinders.[1] 


   [1] Flinders is also notable to archaeologists because his grandson, Sir Flinders Petrie, the British Egyptologist, pioneered the systematic methodology which forms the basis of modern archaeology.



Fast forward several years and plans were announced for Flinders’ reburial in Donington, Lincolnshire. Reading the BBC’s report (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-66405752), a thought struck me; wouldn’t it be wonderful for Flinders to be reburied in a replica of his original coffin? 

This was swiftly followed by another thought; I could make it.  So, with a plan forming in my mind, I contacted the church of St Mary and the Holy Rood, Donington, and offered my expertise and labour. After a flurry of emails back and forth, the church and the Flinders family happily accepted my proposal and I set to work.  

It has long been speculated that the grave of Captain Flinders had been removed by the late 19th century expansion of Euston station. This assumption seems based on a letter written years after Flinders’ death by his daughter, Mrs. Anne Petrie (1812–1892), which read:

 ‘Many years afterwards, my aunt Tyler went to look for his grave, but found the churchyard remodelled, and quantities of tombstones and graves with their contents had been carted away as rubbish, among them that of my unfortunate father, thus pursued by disaster after death as in life’ (Ernest, 2011 (1914): 396).


Nevertheless, the burial ledger of St James’s Chapel, Hampstead Road, clearly records his burial in the ‘second ground’. An area unaffected by the expansion.

[1] There is no record that the Flinders family ever purchased a memorial, and it was probably this lack of a marker which led to the later confusion, especially once other landmarks in the ground had become overgrown or been removed. In 2019, contrary to decades of speculation, excavation showed that Flinders’s burial had never be moved and was still in the same spot recorded by the burial register. 


   [1] The coffin of ‘Captain Matthew Flinders RN’ was brought from ‘London Street, St Pancras’ on 23 July 1814 and buried in plot 2 J 70 (second ground, lot J, number 70) (City of Westminster Archives (CWA), SJC/0494/1/328)).   

The undertaking trade, as we know it today, first emerged in the 17th century and was firmly established by the early 18th century, when all burials would have been coffined (Litten, 1991). 

Since the level of coffin decoration directly reflected the cost, the post-medieval coffin quickly developed into a status symbol, indicating the wealth and status of the deceased (or, at least, of the person paying for the funeral). Centuries old coffins looked markedly different to modern ones. 

However, they are not the sort of things you see in museums or something you would expect to stumble across, for example, stored in the family attic. Rather, the coffin is a prime example of ephemeral material culture, destined to be constructed and buried within weeks or even days. 

photo Paul Braham

In the past, very few people besides sextons or grave diggers would have ever glimpsed them post-burial, and then only as decayed remnants, found during the day-to-day business of grave digging. Although there are some historic images (including trade cards and funeral illustrations), very few undertaker’s catalogues survive from the Georgian era. 

An understanding of coffin decoration and construction of this period, therefore, requires a combination of both history and archaeology. The past 40 years has seen a surge in interest in burial practises of the 17th to 19th century. This research has been prompted and sustained by development, for which the law now requires the meticulous and professional recording of archaeological remains. 

London’s church crypts have perhaps made the largest contribution to our understanding historic coffins, but considerable knowledge has also been gained from excavating earth-cut graves in parish, non-conformist, and private churchyards.

The replica coffin was made to look just as the original would have done two centuries ago and was constructed with largely the same methods. The design was based on both the remains of Flinders’ coffin and better-preserved contemporary examples. 

Preservation of coffins in archaeologically excavated churchyards, although sometimes varied, is usually poor. Although some decayed fragments of wood survived from Flinders’ coffin, it was mostly represented by dark brown organic staining, and its original form discernible through little more than rusted iron studs and nails.

Flinders’ coffin, like so many at St James’s, was also greatly distorted by the collapse of its wood. This being a direct result of rot and decay slowly compromising its ability to resist the pressures of the overlaying and surrounding soil.

Well-preserved coffins, as seen at Euston and other London sites, show a general conformity in carpentry techniques and proportions. English coffins of the 18th and 19th centuries were almost exclusively of the flat-lidded shouldered form. 

Flinders’ coffin was no exception. This form, very recognisable to modern eyes as a ‘coffin-shape’, first emerged in the last quarter of the 16th century but was ubiquitous by the early 18th century. 

My replica, just like the original, has been constructed with six pieces of wood – two sides, two ends, a base, and a lid.[1] However, this design was not entirely straightforward. The shoulders of a Georgian coffin were typically rounded, rather than formed with a sharp butt joint. It also tapered in both width and height and the foot end was sloped.


   [1] Although various woods were used, including conifer and oak, most of the coffins in the post-medieval period were made of elm because it is less prone to splitting and offers water-resistance.   


After the basic shape was achieved, then came decoration. Generally, modern coffins are not as ornate as 17th to 19th century examples. By 1814 (the year Flinders died), there was an array of coffin fittings and decorative styles available, which could be purchased according to fashion, as well as the taste and pocket of the customer. 

The records show that the Flinders' family chose a plot in the second burial ground and did not purchase a grave marker. Similarly, the coffin they bought wasn’t the most expensive available but still, nevertheless, of good quality. 

Photo Paul Braham

The principal features of an early 19th century coffin were decorative plates and handles (aka grips). Flinders' breastplate (name plate) had survived in good condition because it was made in lead, but the coffin’s other fittings had rusted almost to nothing because they had been made with thin sheets of iron. 

However, the most striking difference between Flinders' coffin and a modern one was its external fabric covering, which would have probably decayed and disappeared within a year of the burial. Prior to waxed and polished woods being introduced and becoming the dominant style from the late 19th century, coffins were covered with fabrics, such as baize or velvet, and decorated with hundreds or thousands of upholstery studs. These studs were set in rows and clusters to form a wide variety of patterns.

Due to the absence of a convenient large workshop, my garden and living room were commandeered for the work (although, not without some complaints and much bemusement from my wife and children…). 

While I was able to replicate the decorative plates and handles with resin, modern upholstery studs proved an exact match for their 18th and 19th century counterparts. Nearly 1600 studs had to be applied individually, a process which took several days. 

Still, it could have been worse; Lord Nelson was buried in 1806 in a coffin decorated with ‘no less than 10,000 double gilt nails!

When I started this project, I wanted to provide a contribution to the reburial of Captain Flinders. An individual I had helped find and archaeologically excavate. 

However, I also hoped to revive an obscure part of the past. Very few people appreciate how different and striking coffins used to be.

Although each was a small artwork, they were all destined to have only a fleeting time on display before burial. 

Photo Paul Braham

It took several weeks to finish, but I’m confident that an early 19th century undertaker would not be able to tell the difference between his work and my finished replica. 

Hopefully, the coffin will be a fitting tribute this summer when it returns an eighteen-century British explorer home to rest with his ancestors.

  References Ernest, S. (2011 (1914)) The Life Captain Matthew Flinders, Cambridge University Press. Litten, J. (1991) The English way of death, London

Ann Chappelle was born on 21st November 1770 in Hull,  the daughter of a captain in the Merchant Navy who had died early of illness at sea off Java. Her mother remarried to a Rev William Tyler and had another daughter, Isabella, with whom Ann lived and remained very close for the rest of her life.

Ann was described by eugenicist Sir Francis Galton as 'with above average mental powers, considered clever, with a sweet and perfect temper, beloved by all who knew her, witty, generous, nervous, with aptitude for poetry, literature, singing, verse, and painting flowers from nature'.

Ann and Matthew married on 17th April 1801 in Partney in Lincolnshire - and it was the intention for Ann to travel with him on his voyages - however that was vetoed by the Lords of the Admiralty.
This is well documented in correspondence between Flinders and his chief benefactor, Sir Joseph Banks, in May 1801
I have but time to tell you that the news of your marriage, which was published in the Lincoln paper, has reached me. The Lords of the Admiralty have heard also that Mrs. Flinders is on board the Investigator, and that you have some thought of carrying her to sea with you. This I was very sorry to hear, and if that is the case I beg to give you my advice by no means to adventure to measures so contrary to the regulations and the discipline of the Navy; for I am convinced by language I have heard, that their Lordships will, if they hear of her being in New South Wales, immediately order you to be superseded, whatever may be the consequences, and in all likelihood order Mr. Grant to finish the survey.
As a result, Ann was obliged to stay in England and after just 3 months of marriage would not see her husband for nine years.


Matthew named Mount Chappell/Chappelle in Bass Strait after Ann. 

Ann and Matthew had one daughter - Anne, born in 1812 who later married William Petrie, a civil engineer. Their only child and son Sir William Flinders Petrie ( 1853 - 1942 ) went on to become a renowned Egyptologist who is buried in Jerusalem. There is also some irony that the archaeological skills used to find and identify his body will owe much to the methodology established by Flinders’ famous grandson, the archaeologist 

It is believed that through illness Ann became blind in one eye, nevertheless she was a watercolourist with an aptitude for painting flowers - some of her work is in the Usher Gallery at Lincoln.

Ann outlived Matthew by almost forty years, living at various addresses in London with her half-sister Isabella. Her headstone can be seen in the Churchyard of St Thomas, Charlton, London.
Inscription on the Headstone reads -

"Sacred to the memory of Ann, Widow of Capt. Matthew Flinders RN The Circumnavigator of Australia and Discoverer. She died 10 February 1852. Let me die the death of the righteous And let my last end be like hers. Also of Isabella Tyler Half Sister of the above and daughter of the late Revd Wm Tyler of Ashby Lincoln Who died on 18th December 1867"

Images are: - Of Matthew and Ann; and Daughter Anne in the Blue Dress - by kind permission of Lisette Flinders
and the gravestone at Charlton


Friends of St Thomas Church in Charlton started a project which was inspired by Ann Flinders' grave. 

The area was very over grown and during the excavation of Mathew Finders at Euston station they had visitors come to see her grave. It was so overgrown they decided to create a garden in her memory, a Garden of Reflection.

What an incredible effort, as can be seen from the before and after pictures, kindly supplied by the church.

Click here to link to St Thomas Church, Charlton LONDON for more information on the restoration of The Garden of Reflection.
Trim was born in 1799 aboard the ship, black with white paws, chin and chest. Trim would not have been the only cat on board Investigator; most ships kept a few cats onboard to catch rats and mice that could cause havoc by eating supplies or gnawing on ropes.

But Trim's personality appears to have been bigger than the other ship cats.  Flinders wrote, in A Biographical Tribute to the Memory of Trim.


'The signs of superior intelligence which marked his infancy procured for him an education beyond what is usually bestowed upon the individuals of his tribe,'

 'And being brought up amongst sailors, his manners acquired a peculiarity of cast which rendered them as different from those of other cats.'

As a kitten, Trim fell more than once into the ocean but paddled back to safety and climbed onto the ship.


'He learned to swim and to have no dread of the water; and when a rope was thrown over to him, he took hold of it like a man, and ran up it like a cat,' wrote Flinders.
'In a short time, he was able to mount up the gangway steps quicker than his master, or even than the first lieutenant.'


Noting his strong survival instinct and intelligence, Flinders and the crew made him their favourite. He was named after the butler Corporal Trim in Laurence Sterne's novel ‘Tristram Shandy’ because Flinders considered him to be a faithful and affectionate friend. Flinders even wrote a biography for his constant cat companion as well as other tributes and poems.


Trim sailed with Flinders on HMS Investigator on his voyage of circumnavigation around the Australian mainland. Trim also managed to survive the shipwreck of HMS Porpoise on the Great Barrier Reef, in 1803, using another of his 9 lives! When they ran aground and the crew, including Trim, had to swim to safety on a small island.

Trim was said to have helped keep the stranded men's spirits up while they waited seven weeks for rescue.

When Flinders was accused of spying and imprisoned under house arrest by the French in Mauritius on his return voyage, a faithful Trim shared his captivity. During his imprisonment, Flinders wrote a biographical tribute to Trim in which he described him as "one of the finest animals I ever saw... [his] robe 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 rivalled them in whiteness. He had also a white star on his breast."


Trim stayed with Flinders the whole time — but he was allowed to wander the island.
During one of his outdoor explorations in 1804, the cat failed to return, much to the distress of Flinders.
Although never proven, a heartbroken Flinders attributed his disappearance to his having been stolen and eaten by a hungry slave. Flinders wrote about the demise of his friend:


"Thus perished my faithful intelligent Trim! The sporting, affectionate and useful companion of my voyages during four years.
"Never, my Trim, 'to take thee all in all, shall I see thy like again', but never wilt thou cease to be regretted by all who had the pleasure of knowing thee.
"And for thy affectionate master and friend, he promises thee, if ever he shall have the happiness to enjoy repose in his native country, under a thatched cottage surrounded by half an acre of land, to erect in the most retired corner a monument to perpetuate thy memory and record thy uncommon merits.
"


Flinders never got a chance to erect a monument to Trim, but a number of statues now stand as memorials to the adventurous cat — in England and in Australia — and his story lives on.
In 1996, a bronze statue of Trim by sculptor John Cornwell was erected on a window ledge of the Mitchell library 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 library and even its cafe is named after the cat.






The plaque under it says:


                                                             TO THE MEMORY OF
                                                                         TRIM
                                             The best and most illustrious of his race
                                                 The most affectionate of friends,
                                                           faithful of servants,
                                                          and best of creatures
                                He made the tour of the globe, and a voyage to Australia,
                                        which he circumnavigated, and was ever the
                                         delight and pleasure of his fellow voyagers

                                        Written by Matthew Flinders in memory of his cat


Bungaree became the first known Aboriginal person to circumnavigate Australia and contribute to the mapping of the Australian coastline.

A short man with a sharp intellect, Bungaree arrived in Sydney in the 1790s with with his family group , after conflicts with white settlers had escalated along the Hawkesbury River. He quickly made a mark in the fledgling colony, as by 1798 he was employed on a 60-day round trip to Norfolk Island on the HMS Reliance, where he met the young English naval lieutenant Matthew Flinders.

 Flinders was so impressed with Bungaree’s friendly demeanour, intuition and bravery that the following year he took him on a coastal survey voyage to Bribie Island and Hervey Bay  on the 25-tonne longboat Norfolk.

Bungaree was a brilliant diplomat and despite language barriers could quickly ascertain the wishes of the coastal Aboriginal groups they encountered. Flinders therefore used him again on his most exploratory voyage, the circumnavigation of Australia in the HMS Investigator, from 1802 to 1803. It was on this expedition that much of Australia’s unknown coastline was mapped.

Back in Sydney, Bungaree established a reputation as a brilliant mimic, imitating the walk and mannerisms of various governors and personalities. He was given fine clothing, including military cloaks and a hat. Governor Macquarie took a particular liking to Bungaree, and gave him both the fictitious title ‘King of the Broken Bay Aborigines’ and the first Aboriginal land grant, on Middle Head, where he briefly grew peaches and other produce.

In 1817, Bungaree sailed to north-western Australia with Phillip Parker King in the 76-tonne cutter HMS Mermaid, again showing his skill as a diplomat and intermediary between white and black people. 

He died in Sydney in 1830.

Flinders flowers

COMMEMORATIVE FLOWERS FOR CAPTAIN MATTHEW FLINDERS 

            13TH JULY 2024   for the “BRING HIM HOME” DAY  

Kathryn White


From Kathryn White of Sanctuary Point NSW near Jervis Bay - the Commemorative Native Australian Flowers standing in the Sea.


 Here in the Jervis Bay area on the South Coast of New South Wales where the waters of the Tasman Sea flow into Jervis Bay and St Georges Basin, from Sussex Inlet my home of Sanctuary Point is on its shores.

The 13th July 2024  was a bright and sunny day as can be seen by the photograph, above,  for the little contribution for the “Bring Him Home” day. An Australian Native Flower Commemoration for Captain Matthew Flinders – who sailed past our shores on his voyages of exploration. 

The water sparkled with sunshine and as we are 9 hours ahead, I chose sunrise time in Donington to place the Flowers in the Sea. I also placed them afterwards, facing the Tasman Sea to be there for the “Bring Him Home” Service at Donington, his place of birth and final resting place in St Mary and Holyrood Church. 

I thought a little background to the chosen Australian Native flowers may be of interest also: 

The Golden Wattle, Australia’s National Floral Emblem is now just coming into bloom and how fitting for 13th July 2024 and freshly picked from bushland (above) at Jervis Bay. 

Picked from this native Wattle Tree (Acacia Longifolia) from Sanctuary Point my home (near Jervis Bay) just in bloom and grows prolifically in our area of the South Coast of New South Wales.

 The silver leaved mountain gum (Eucalyptus pulverulenta) is also a native   of southern New South Wales.

 

This species of Banksia in my hat, is botanically named Banksia ericifolia, but is also known as the Lantern Banksia. Part of the Proteaceae family, it is a native plant that occurs largely in New South Wales across the eastern coast. Many banksias grow in our area and this type was collected by  Joseph Banks, aboard the Endeavour, Captained at the time, by                                Lieut. James Cook in 1770. 


Captain Matthew Flinders especially admired Capt. James Cook. And why is  the specimen photographed in a somewhat similar style to a              Cabbage Tree Hat?  Because shortly after the first landing at Moreton Bay in Queensland, it is recorded that Captain Matthew Flinders wore a cabbage-tree hat himself! A cabbage tree hat (also known as a cabbage palm hat) is a hat made from the cabbage tree palm (Livistona australis.) 

It is known as the first distinctively Australian headwear in use for the protection from the sun. The process involved boiling, then drying, and finally bleaching the leaves and it was a finely woven natural straw coloured hat with a high tapering domed crown.


This same native Specimen was collected by Joseph Banks aboard the Endeavour, in 1770 at Botany Bay - Banksias are named after him.


WESTERN AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS REPRESENTED 

Geraldton waxflower or Chamelaucium waxflower are a species of the myrtle and is a wildflower native only to Western Australia and this flower represents Capt. Matthew Flinders vast exploration and circumnavigation of Australia from western to the eastern shores.

 Kangaroo Paws (Anigozanthos) are also native only in the southwest of Western Australia.

MAP SHOWING SANCTUARY POINT - ST GEORGES BASIN on the SOUTH COAST OF EASTERN AUSTRALIA   (left) AND JERVIS BAY THROUGH POINT PERPENDICULAR AND GOVERNOR HEAD

  Photograph taken looking out to the Tasman Sea from Governors Head Jervis Bay by Kathryn White - where Captain Matthew Flinders sailed on his voyages of exploration. 

IN MEMORY  OF  CAPTAIN MATTHEW FLINDERS

Sea-Fever

 BY JOHN MASEFIELD 

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, 

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; 

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

 And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking. 

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide 

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; 

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, 

And the flung spray and the blown spume and the sea-gulls crying. 

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, 

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife; 

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, 

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

This poem by Elizabeth Adams is reproduced with permission from the October 2023 issue of Cook’s Log, the journal of the Captain Cook Society (www.captaincooksociety.com)   

Captain Flinders Goes Home 

If Dampier had lived in time to meet Cook,[1] 

Would they have realised they both had stood 

At opposite ends of the same landmass? 

I like to think so, but doubt that they would. 

For it wasn't until twenty years after Cook 

That Captain Flinders sailed all the way 

Round the vast, seemingly endless coast

And gave it the name we use to this day. 

Most 'Brits' never took much notice of Flinders 

Until, when digging for the country's new train, 

His coffin was found in old burial ground 

Where for two hundred years he had quietly lain. 

He refused to live a life mediocre, 

And now that for his body we no longer search, 

He need fear no more to "rest .... unnoticed", 

For he'll be taken back to his Lincolnshire church.   


Reference [1] William Dampier was the first recorded Englishman to set foot on Australia, some 80 years before Cook.

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