THE FATHER OF AUSTRALIA.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 239, 25 January 1898, Page 4

THE FATHER OF AUSTRALIA.

The following letter appears in the London Times of December 3rd. from the Rev. Lancelot J. Fish, Vicar of Bathampton : A discovery of some interest has just been made in our parish church, which I know not how to make known to those most interested, unless it is by means of the publicity your übiquitous columns alone command. For some time the authorities of New South Wales have been searching for the burial place of Commander Phillip, founder of NewSouth Wales, and, as manv hold, the " Father of Australia." Phillip was known to have died in Bath, where he retired to soon after his withdrawal from the service, and a search in the registers of the city of Bath and of the neighbouring villages has resulted in the discovery, first, of the fact that Phillip was buried in this parish, and, secondly, of his grave, which lies in the floor of Bathamptou Church. It bears this inscription : Underneath lie the remains of Airmen Phillip, Esq., Admiral of the Blue, Who died 31st August, 1814, In his 70th year. Here, you will observe, is no allusion to his great life work, and, naturally, at that time, though on'y 23 years before Iter Majesty came to the throne, his services to the State were not recognised as being worthy of mention ; and it is an impressive comment on the immense growth during these 70 years of the work he inaugurated that although in June last no honour was held to be too great for the colonial statesmen who have entered into his labours, yet on the tomb of the man himself there is absolutely no reference to the fact that he sowed where otheis are so abundantly reaping. It is not often that tombstones arc guilty of a supprcss'w vert in th ; s sense ; in fact tombstones are so often regarded as a race of barefaced perjurers that it is a comfort to find that they can sometimes lie iu a direction other than the usual one. I have written to various authorities in New South Wales announcing the fact of the grave's existence and expressing the hope that, in some way, the colony will worthily mark the restingplace of this maker of Greater Britain; but there must bo mauy Australians resident in England, or visiting "home," who will be glad to know where Phillip lies, and, indeed, many of yo.tr English readers may like to learn this much more about one who, if history speaks true, is certainly not the least among the builders of Empire.