would have continued the family tradition, inheriting the practice built
up by his father and grandfather (as it was hoped he would do), had there
not been within him an irresistible longing for the sea, and a bent of
scientific curiosity directed to maritime exploration, which led him on a
path of discovery to achievements that won him honourable rank in the
noble roll of British naval pioneers.

His father earned an excellent reputation, both professional and
personal. The career of a country practitioner rarely affords an
opportunity for distinction. It was even less so then than today, when at
all events careful records of interesting cases are printed in a score or
more of professional publications. But once we find the elder Matthew
Flinders in print. The Memoirs of the Medical Society of London* (* 1779
Volume 4 page 330.) contain a paper read before that body on October
30th, 1797: "Case of a child born with variolar pustules, by Matthew
Flinders, surgeon, Donington, Lincolnshire." The essay occupies three
pages, and is a clear, succinct record of symptoms, treatment and
results, for medical readers. The child died; whereupon the surgeon
expresses his regret, not on account of infant or parents, but, with true
scientific zest, because it deprived him of the opportunity of watching
the development of an uncommon case.

Donington is a small town in the heart of the fen country, lying ten
miles south-west of Boston, and about the same distance, as the crow
flies, from the black, muddy, western fringe of the Wash. It is a very
old town. Formerly it was an important Lincolnshire centre, enjoying its
weekly Saturday market, and its four annual fairs for the sale of horses,
cattle, flax and hemp. During Flinders' youth and early manhood the
district grew large quantities of hemp, principally for the Royal Navy.
In the days of its prosperity Donington drew to itself the business of an