The story of Alexander Pitcairn, brother of the sailor who gave his name to the South Sea island where the mutineers lived after their infamous uprising on HMS Bounty, is causing a flutter in the village of Eynsford following the discovery of his coffin in a small mausoleum under the floor of St Martin’s Church.

Alexander Pitcairn died in 1813. He was the youngest son of Major John and Elizabeth Pitcairn. He was a lawyer and a cricketer who played for Hampshire, occasionally for the Gentlemen of Kent, and the MCC.

No one in Eynsford knew the mausoleum existed, including the Rev Gary Owens, who wonders why Pitcairn came to be buried in such a special vault in the church.

He said: “If he was rich and important, why did the Victorians cover the mausoleum when they laid a new floor? We have more questions than answers.”

The discovery was made during extensive building work at the 12th century church.

Members of Farningham and Eynsford Local History Society, led by Jan Wilkes, have been busy researching the link to the mutiny of the Bounty and to Pitcairn island.

Jan said: “We know that Alexander’s brother, Robert was in the Royal Navy, serving as a midshipman and was sailing around the world on the HMS Swallow in 1767 when it lost contact with its fellow ship HMS Dolphin.”

While looking for land, Robert, who was just 15, spotted an island. It was immediately named after him.

Robert Pitcairn was lost at sea in 1770. The mutiny, led by Fletcher Christian, was in 1789 so the connections are tenuous. But are they? Alexander was married to Elizabeth Campbell and her father Duncan was the uncle-in-law to William Bligh, who was married to his neice. Duncan also owned the Bounty.

Bligh came to live in the Manor House at Farningam the year Alexander died.

While historians assess these fascinating links, the re-ordering of St Martin’s Church continues, and so does the fundraising because £55,000 is still needed to complete the project.

I will end with this observation. When Bligh was put on an open boat after the mutiny in 1789, he would have known nothing about Pitcairn island where the mutineers eventually settled.

He and his fellow officers reached East Timor after an incredible 3,000-mile journey.

Bligh later appeared before the courts and was vindicated.

So why should he want to live in Farningham and a few miles from the church where Alexander Pitcairn was buried. Is it just coincidence?