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Richard Parker's gravestone
 To
the memory of Richard Parker Aged 17 who died at sea July
25th 1884 after nineteen days dreadful suffering in the open
boat in the tropics having been wrecked in the yacht Mignonette
Though He slay me yet I trust in
Him.
JOB 15
Lord lay not this sin to their
charge
ACTS 11.60
Although Richard Parker's body was
buried at sea, a headstone was erected in his memory at Pear
Tree Churchyard near his birthplace in Woolston, Southampton.
Captain Dudley is said to have paid a local family to keep
the stone clean in perpetuity. They were so ashamed of accepting
his legacy that they asked for their name to be kept secret
and would only clean the stone in the dead of night.
Thomas Dudley had left the legacy after
emigrating to Sydney Australia where he set up a chandlers.
Locals knew him as Cannibal Tom. Dudley was to make history
a second time: He was the first Australian to die of Bubonic
Plague!
Copyright Craig Hamilton-Parker
(Available for press, radio and TV interviews)
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A Painting of the Mignonette
Was there something amiss?
Some strange letters
From people who also have experienced strange coincidences
linked to this Story
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