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Memorial: M2042

Wall tablet in Church of St Mary and the Holy Rood, Donington, Lincolnshire commemorating Captain Matthew Flinders RN d. 1814

Location

Church of St Mary and the Holy Rood, Donington, Lincolnshire, England

Transcript

'IN MEMORY OF / CAPTAIN MATTHEW FLINDERS, R.N. / WHO DIED JULY 19TH 1814 / AGED 40 YEARS / AFTER HAVING TWICE CIRCUMNAVIGATED THE GLOBE, HE WAS / SENT BY THE ADMIRALTY IN THE YEAR 1801, TO MAKE / DISCOVERIES ON THE COAST OF TERRA AUSTRALIS / RETURNING FROM THIS VOYAGE HE SUFFERED SHIPWRECK / AND BY THE INJUSTICE OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT / WAS IMPRISONED SIX YEARS IN THE / ISLAND OF MAURITIUS / IN 1810, HE WAS RESTORED TO HIS NATIVE LAND, AND NOT / LONG AFTER WAS ATTACKED BY AN EXCRUCIATING DISEASE / THE ANGUISH HE BORE UNTIL DEATH / WITH UNDEVIATING FORTITUDE / HIS COUNTRY WILL LONG REGRET THE LOSS OF ONE WHOSE / EXERTIONS IN HER CAUSE WERE ONLY EQUALLED BY / HIS PERSEVERANCE: / BUT HIS FAMILY WILL MOST DEEPLY FEEL THE / IRREPARABLE DEPRIVATION. / THEY DO NOT HEREIN LAMENT A MAN OF SUPERIOR INTELLECT / THEY MOURN AN AFFECTIONATE HUSBAND / A TENDER FATHER. A KIND BROTHER, / AND A FAITHFUL FRIEND'

Details

Description: A draped urn above the inscription, a relief of a ship on the apron below it.
Type: Wall tablet

People

Flinders, Matthew
Age: 40
Date of Death: 19/7/1814
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Captain RN
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: Also a bust by A Flieschmann. Unmarked place of burial in St James's Gardens, Euston or under Euston Station. St James's Gardens now lies in the path of HS2. The memorial at Donington erected by Flinder's widow Ann.
Bibliography: Joseph Bryant 'Captain Matthew Flinders', RN: his voyages, discoveries and fortunes' (London, 1928).
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