Wow, spotted this not far from the office, in the middle of what appears to be a building site (currently) at one end of a patch of green right by a road called "Swedenborg Gardens" (a good clue)... ;)
Turns out this was once the site of the first ever Swedish church in London (built in 1728), it was long ago demolished (worshippers moved to updated premises elsewhere), but from the looks of things they left at least one of their number behind...
Daniel Solander (as you can see from the hand-painted sign) was a Swede, in fact the first Swede ever to circle the globe, doing so with Captain Cook on the Endeavour - he was one of the botanists to inspire the later named "Botany Bay" upon their discovery of Australia)...as well as working to create this important catalogue of Australian and South American plants (during and after the voyage), he also travelled to Iceland, the Hebrides and the Orkneys, topping his career by being appointed Keeper of the Natural History Department at the British Museum...he also invented the Solander box, which is still used in libraries and archives today...for such a fellow doesn't this memorial seem a little bit...temporary?
2 comments:
I knew about Solander,but how interesting that it's in Swedenborg Street. Immanuel Swedenborg is a fascinating character in his own right... love from Dad xx
Looks like Swedenborg might be buried up the road near St Johns in Shadwell...that's (sort of on the limit) but a possible lunchtime stroll...
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