The remains of renowned explorer Captain Matthew Flinders – credited with mapping and naming Australia – will be reburied in the English village of his birth this weekend.
Guests from across the world, including the Governor of South Australia, Frances Adamson, are travelling to Donington, in eastern England, where Flinders was born in 1774, for the event on Saturday.
Flinders was the first person to successfully circumnavigate Australia while commander of the HMS Investigator between 1801 and 1803, and is credited by historians with mapping and naming the continent “Australia”.
A lesser-known part of the landmark voyage was the role played by an Indigenous man who acted as guide and interpreter.
Bungaree, who came from what is now the Broken Bay area, just north of Sydney, accompanied Flinders all the way, becoming the first Australian to circumnavigate the continent he was born on.
Bungaree proved a valuable crew member, with his language skills and diplomacy enabling the expedition to peacefully interact with wary Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples.
When HMS Investigator dropped anchor, he would go ashore and reassure them the explorers were not about to attack them.
Flinders expressed his respect for him after the voyage when he wrote about Bungaree was “of good disposition and open and manly conduct had attracted my esteem”.
Some critics also point to explorers such as Flinders being a precursor to the violent suppression of Indigenous peoples inflicted by British colonists.
Flinders died in London on July 23, 1814, and was laid to rest at St James’ burial ground, along with 60,000 other people.
But his headstone was lost during the expansion of Euston Station in the 1840s, and it was thought his remains had been lost.
His headstone was discovered during the digging under London for the High Speed 2 rail network in 2019.
Plans for Flinders’ reburial became stalled due to pandemic restrictions in Britain, but a group of campaigners from Donington pushed for him to be reburied there.
Eleanor Stevenson, a volunteer involved in organising the reburial ceremony, told 9news.com.au his reinterment on Saturday was “the biggest thing to ever happen” for the village of about 3000 residents.
In Australia, many landmarks and streets are named after him, such as Flinders Bay, Flinders Ranges in South Australia, Flinders Street railway station in Melbourne and Flinders University in Adelaide.
But in Britain, the country of his birth, Flinders is less known than other explorers such as Captain James Cook.
Now 250 years after the birth of Flinders, Donington residents hope there will be a reawakening in public interest.
“The local schools have been including his story in their curriculums and we’ve noticed an increase in tourism at St Mary and the Holy Rood Church where his remains are to be interred,” Stevenson said.
“We are hoping that having Donington as Captain Flinders’ final resting place will increase tourists, historians and maritime enthusiasts visiting here.”
Organisers say about 60 guests from Australia will be attending, along with visitors from Mauritius, Belgium and Germany.
“The finding of his remains and his return to Donington seems to have instilled a new sense of pride to the residents of the village,” Stevenson said.
“A huge amount of work from local volunteers has gone into the organising of the weekend, for some it’s almost been a full-time job.”
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Flinders’ coffin – a replica of the 18th-century one he would have been originally buried in – will be carried through the village streets, with hundreds of people expected to watch.
His coffin will be escorted by a party from the Royal Navy demonstration team.