Syms Covington
Syms Covington (* around 1814 , † February 19, 1861 in Pambula , New South Wales ) was a crew member during the second survey voyage of the HMS Beagle . Charles Darwin employed him as his assistant and then as his secretary during this trip. In 1839 Covington emigrated to Australia, where he worked as a postmaster in Pambula.
Live and act
Syms Covington, born around 1814, was part of the crew of the HMS Beagle when it set out on its second survey trip at the end of 1831, in which Charles Darwin also took part. Covington was a cabin boy and fiddler and lived in the poop cabin. During the voyage, Darwin had taught him how to kill birds and how to prepare them and, with the permission of Captain Robert FitzRoy , employed him as his personal assistant in June or early July 1833. During the trip, Covington kept a diary, made pencil sketches and created his own zoological collection, which contained, for example, some Galápagos finches . After the return of the HMS Beagle in early October 1836, he stayed with Darwin as a secretary to help with the preparation of its collections.
After Darwin's wedding, Covington was dismissed from Darwin's service on February 25, 1839, and he decided to emigrate to Australia . Darwin asked Thomas Livingstone Mitchell , among others, to arrange a crossing, but then found a passage himself that Covington could work through as a cook. Darwin wrote several letters of recommendation, for example to William Sharp Macleay and Philip Parker King , to facilitate Covington's acceptance into Australian society. Covington left England at the end of May 1839 and reached Sydney around the turn of the year 1839/1840 .
Covington probably owed his first job in Australia to Philip Parker King. He started working for the Australian Agricultural Company in Stroud . There he met Eliza Twyford, whom he married on August 12, 1841, and with whom he had six sons and two daughters. By 1843 he was secretary of the Australian Agricultural Company's coal depot in Sydney . Since 1849 Darwin corresponded again with Covington and received from him Australian barnacles . He spent 1852 to 1853 unsuccessfully in the gold fields of the Ovens Valley in Victoria . On November 1, 1854, he was appointed postmaster of the town of Pambula , not far from Twofold Bay . His homestead there served as a pub, post office and warehouse. Syms Covington died of paralysis .
literature
Syms Covington is the subject of the novel:
- Roger McDonald: Mr. Darwin's indispensable assistant . Piper Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3492042171
proof
literature
- BJ Ferguson: Syms Covington of Pambula, assistant to Charles Darwin on the voyage of HMS Beagle, 1831-1836 . 2nd edition, The Society, Merimbula (NSW) 1988
- FW Nicholas: Charles Darwin in Australia: With Illustrations and Additional Commentary from Other Members of the Beagle's Company Including Conrad Martens, Augustus Earle, Captain FitzRoy, Philip Gidley King, and Syms Covington . Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 0521017025 , pp. 141-152
- RB Freeman: Charles Darwin: A Companion . 2nd online edition , 2007, p. 61
Individual evidence
- ↑ Charles Darwin to Emily Catherine Darwin, May 22nd [- July 14th] 1833, Letter 206 ( Memento of the original of September 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in The Darwin Correspondence Project (accessed January 15, 2009).
- ↑ Charles Darwin to Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, May 31st [1839], Letter 515 ( Memento of the original of September 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in The Darwin Correspondence Project (accessed January 14, 2009).
- ↑ Charles Darwin to William Sharp Macleay, May 29, 1839, Letter 513 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in The Darwin Correspondence Project (accessed January 14, 2009).
- ↑ Charles Darwin to Syms Covington, March 30, 1849, Letter 1237 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in The Darwin Correspondence Project (accessed January 15, 2009).
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Covington, Syms |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Crew member of HMS Beagle (1831–1836), assistant and secretary to Charles Darwin |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1814 |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 19, 1861 |
| Place of death | Pambula , New South Wales |