Syms Covington travelled with Charles Darwin on the HMS Beagle voyage of 1831-1836. He assisted Darwin with collecting specimens and sorting the collection on the return to England.
Covington first visited Sydney, New South Wales, with the Beagle in January 1836. He decided to return to settle in late 1839 and was given letters of introduction by Darwin to William Macleay, Philip Parker King and Sir Thomas Mitchell.
Covington and Darwin corresponded, with Covington continuing to send specimens back to Darwin in England. Some of the correspondence was published in the Sydney Mail newspaper in 1884.
Covington married in Australia and settled with his family in Pambula, New South Wales. He worked as a postmaster. His story inspired Roger McDonald's 1998 novel Mr Darwin's Shooter.
Source: Susannah Fullerton, ‘Charles Darwin’, Brief Encounters: Literary Travellers in Australia 1836-1939 (2009): 27-29
