Syms Covington

[1] When he was fifteen years old, Syms Covington became "fiddler & boy to Poop-cabin" on the second survey expedition of HMS Beagle,[2] which left England on 27 December 1831 under the command of captain Robert FitzRoy.

Covington kept a journal of the voyage, and in September 1832 at Bahía Blanca in South America he noted wildlife found there, including a find of rhea eggs, and giant fossil bones of the megatherium which were collected and sent to England.

[5] After an excursion into the interior lasting twelve days,[6] they spent several weeks at Maldonado preparing the collections to be sent back to England.

In a letter home started on 22 May, Darwin told his father that he had decided to take Covington on as a servant – The following business piece is to my Father: having a servant of my own would be a really great addition to my comfort,—for these two reasons; as at present, the Captain has appointed one of the men always to be with me, but I do not think it just thus to take a seaman out of the ship;—and 2nd when at sea, I am rather badly off for anyone to wait on me.

[7] Records indicate that Covington landed in Sydney in 1840, and he married Eliza Twyford who lived at Stroud, a small town in northern New South Wales.

Covington was able to draw on his naval connections to find employment, and by 1843 was working as a clerk at the Sydney coal depot of the Australian Agricultural Company.

[9] In response to Darwin's request for specimens, Covington and his eldest son collected a large number of barnacles at nearby Twofold Bay.

[11] It has been used as a doctor's surgery and more recently as a Thai restaurant, and its red tin roof and double chimneys can still be seen beside a sharp bend of the main Coast Road.

In November 2023 it was announced that Syms Covington was one of 14 people, places and events commemorated in the second round of blue plaques sponsored by the Government of New South Wales alongside Kathleen Butler, godmother of Sydney Harbour Bridge; Emma Jane Callaghan, an Aboriginal midwife and activist; Susan Katherina Schardt; journalist Dorothy Drain; writer Charmian Clift; Beryl Mary McLaughlin, one of the first three women to graduate in architecture from the University of Sydney; Grace Emily Munro, Sir William Dobell, Ioannis (Jack) and Antonios (Tony) Notaras; Ken Thomas of Thomas Nationwide Transport, Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club and the first release of myxomatosis.