LONDON — Archaeologists working on a new U.K. railway discovered the grave of Capt. Matthew Flinders, born in Lincolnshire England in 1774.
Flinders was the first person to sail around Australia, and popularized the name of the country in his writings afterward. He was buried in St. James Church in 1814, but his headstone went missing once Euston Station constructions began for the London Underground. An urban myth has since surrounded his final resting place.
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Flinders' remains were found during excavations to build a high-speed railway connecting London to Birmingham. They were identified by the breastplate found on his coffin, and along with 40,000 other human remains in Euston, according to HS2, the company building the new railway. The first link of a high-speed railway aims to open by 2026.
"Given the number of human remains at St. James's, we weren't confident that we were going to find him. We were very lucky that Captain Flinders had a breastplate made of lead meaning it would not have corroded. We'll now be able to study his skeleton to see whether life at sea left its mark and what more we can learn about him," said Helen Wass, HS2's head of heritage.
HS2 said Flinders will be re-interred in St. James Church at a later date.
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