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Posted: 2024-07-14 05:28:01

In short: 

The remains of British explorer Matthew Flinders, credited for mapping Australia, has been laid to rest at this birthplace.

His return was received with much fanfare and attended by Australian dignitaries including the South Australian governor.

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Captain Flinders's coffin plate will be brought back to Adelaide and be displayed publicly.

A renowned explorer who gave Australia its name has been reburied in the village of his birth in the United Kingdom.

Captain Matthew Flinders, who was the first person to circumnavigate Australia, was laid to rest in a "emotional" ceremony at Donington in Lincolnshire about 185 kilometres north of London on Saturday, UK time.

The reinterment was a long time coming after his remains were lost in the mid-1800s and only discovered in 2019 in London during excavations for the HS2 high-speed rail line.

Thousands lined the streets of Donington as Royal Navy sailors and officers marched through with the coffin.

The Governor of South Australia, Frances Adamson, was among Australian dignitaries who attended the service at the local church.

People sitting in pews at a church before a service began

The reinterment of Matthew Flinders was held at his birthplace in Donington.(Supplied: Flinders University)

"This funeral, in a way, or this service of thanksgiving and dedication, took place 210 years after Matthew Flinders died and was originally buried," Ms Adamson said.

"I think there was a real sense of a homecoming to the town where he was born and where he was educated."

Ms Adamson told the ABC the explorer left "a real mark in what we now call Australia".

"His views were persuasive in moving the name from Terra Australis to Australia," she said.

"It wasn't known until then just how big Australia was.

"I think there's quite a deal of inspiration to be drawn from the adversity that he faced, the ways in which he looked after his crew, the mapping skills that he showed, his absolute determination.

"The hope is that some of the achievements that we can now look back on, and realise the significance of, will now become more widely recognised in the United Kingdom, as well as in Australia."

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