<
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jun/30/explorer-who-named-australia-to-be-reburied-in-lincolnshire-village-where-he-was-born>
"When the remains of the famous explorer Capt Matthew Flinders – credited with
naming Australia – were discovered during the digging for HS2, Jane Pearson
knew he had to be brought back home to Donington.
This little village in Lincolnshire, where Flinders was born in 1774, has been
preparing for his arrival for months, and is gearing up to welcome a host of
Australian dignitaries travelling over for his reburial in July.
“It’s a huge project. We’ ve got 400 guests coming, many from across the world.
And we’ve only got one chance to get this right,” said Pearson, 72, chair of
the campaign to bring back Flinders, which successfully lobbied to have him
brought to the village where his father and brother are buried.
“It’s a bit mind-blowing when you actually think about it. People are coming
all that way for this event, to come to Donington,” said Jane King, 63, a local
councillor who has also been involved in the preparations.
“My son said to me, ‘Mum, you do realise that you’re involved in doing
something that’s going to be in the history books?’ That was a bit woah, a bit
scary.”
Flinders was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first
circumnavigation of Australia, and was the first person to map the island of
Tasmania. He is also credited as being the first person to use the name
“Australia” to describe the continent and successfully argued for its
adoption."
This is my favourite sentence:
He will lie beneath a stained glass window dedicated to his memory, while
soil from the countries he visited – Australia, Tasmania, Mauritius – will
be scattered over his coffin.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
