| Authorised form of name | Beaufort; Sir; Francis (1774 - 1857); hydrographer |
| Dates | 1774 - 1857 |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Place of birth | Flower Hill, Navan, County Meath, Ireland, Europe |
| Date of birth | 27 May 1774 |
| Place of death | Hove, Sussex, England, United Kingdom, Europe |
| Date of death | 17 December 1857 |
| Dates and places | Burial:
Church of St John-at-Hackney, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe |
| Occupation | Hydrographer; Naval Officer |
| Activity | Education:
Bates's Military and Marine Academy, Dublin (1784)
Career:
Entered the Navy (1787); studied astronomy and meteorology for five months under Dr Henry Ussher, professor of astronomy at Trinity College Dublin (1788); Commander (1800); worked on establishing a semaphore system capable of transmitting messages from Dublin to Galway in eight minutes with his brother-in-law Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1803); carried out multiple surveys (Rio de la Plata; coast of Karamania); published 'Karamania, or, A brief description of the south coast of Asia minor, and of the remains of antiquity' (1817); Hydrographer to the Admiralty (1829-1855); awarded DCL Oxford (1839); retired as Rear Admiral (1855); served on the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for the 1832 Reform Act; member of a commission on employment of pilots (1835), and on UK harbours, shores, and rivers (1845)
Honours:
KCB 1848
Memberships:
Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (1829); Member of the Royal Irish Academy (1832); Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (founding member); Member of the American Philosophical Society 1840 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 30/06/1814 |
| Age at election | 40 |
| Royal Society activity | Royal Society roles:
Sworn into Council 1 December 1832
Committee and panels:
Telescope Committee (1831); Meteorological Committee (1831) ; Medal Committee (1830) ; Report of the Hydrometer Committee (1832) |
| Relationships | Parents: Rev Daniel Augustus Beaufort and Mary Waller of Allenstown
Siblings: Frances (later fourth wife of Richard Lovell Edgeworth)
Married: 1) Alicia Magdalena Wilson; 2) Honora Edgeworth
Children: Francis Lestock (later Attorney General of Bengal) |
| Published works | RCN: 26972
RCN: 26973
RCN: 27669
RCN: 26974 |
| General context | From an early stage in his life, Beaufort was keen to travel and one of his first journeys was on the East Indiaman Vansittart. He worked on a variety of ships, saw much active service, and was wounded during the capture of the Spanish ship San Josef. As a commander on the Woolwich (1805), he assisted in the evacuation of British troops from Buenos Aires in 1807. He was initially rejected for the post of Hydrographer of the Navy in 1823, but was appointed to this role six years later. He is most remembered for his Beaufort wind force scale, and some geographical points named after him, e.g. the Beaufort Sea. |
| Royal Society Obituary or Memoir | Click to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices) |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Irish Innovators; ODNB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1857-1859 vol 9 pp 524-527
References:
Carr Agnew, D. 2004. 'Robert Fitzroy and the myth of 'Marsden Square': Transatlantic rivalries in early marine meteorology', in Notes and Records, vol. 58, pp. 21-46
Home, R W. 2002. 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship. Part 1. 1731-1847', in Notes and Records, vol. 56, pp. 307-332 |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/42580519 |
| Royal Society code | NA5914 |
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| EC/1814/13 | Beaufort, Sir Francis: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| AP/20/3 | On the Application of Glass as a Substitute for Metal Balance Springs in Chronometers | 1836 |
| MC/3 | Volume 3 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1839-1843 |
| MC/2 | Volume 2 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1832-1838 |
| MC/4 | Volume 4 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1844-1850 |
| DM/1/15 | Letter from Francis Beaufort, Admiralty, to P M Roget | 7 March 1831 |
| MM/1/53 | Letter from IC Lees, Nassau, to Sir Francis Beaufort | 5 June 1839 |
| DM/4/128 | Letter from Beaufort, Admiralty, to Edward Sabine | 14 December 1829 |
| DM/4/93 | Letter from Charles Rumker to Davies Gilbert, President, Royal Society | 24 May 1830 |
| DM/4/96 | Letter from Charles Rumker to Davies Gilbert, President, Royal Society | 25 June 1830 |
| DM/1/24 | Draft of a letter from P M Roget to Francis Beaufort | 14 March 1831 |
| AP/19/18 | Meteorological Register of H M S Thunder between 1 and 30 June 1834 | 1834 |
| AP/21/4 | On Low Fogs and Stationery Clouds | 1837 |
| AP/21/15 | Experiments on the Vibration of the Pendulum | 1838 |
| AP/27/19 | On the connection between the winds of the St Lawrence and the movements of the barometer | 1845 |
| AP/18/13 | Meteorological Journal kept at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, from the 1st February to the 31st May 1834 | November 1834 |
| AP/19/5 | Observations on Halley's Comet | 1835 |
| AP/18/8 | Observations with the Horizontal and Dipping Needles, made during a voyage from England to New South Wales | 5 July 1833 |
| DM/1/25 | Letter from Francis Beaufort, Manchester Square, to P M Roget | 15 March 1831 |
| AP/30/3 | On the protection of Iron from oxidation and from turning foul when it is exposed to the action of the sea and other waters | March 1848 |
| IM/000310 | Beaufort, Sir Francis | nd |
| AP/19/1 | Hygrometrical Observation made on board His Majesty's Surveying Vessel Etna | 1835 |
| AP/19/2 | Meteorological Observations on board His Majesty's Ship Jackdaw | 1834 |
| EC/1814/14 | Beaufort, Sir Francis: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| IM/005531 | Beaufort, Sir Francis | 2000 |
| MS/123/5 | Letter from the Duke of Sussex to unknown recipient | 12 November 1832 |
| MC/1 | Volume 1 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1800-1831 |
| PT/27/7 | Paper, 'Tide observations at Tahiti' by Capt E [Edward] Belcher | 22 July 1842 |
| PT/42/15 | Paper, 'Report of observations made upon the tidal streams of the English Channel and the German Ocean' by Captain F W [Frederick William] Beechey | 11 March 1851 |
| MC/1/314 | Letter from Francis Beaufort, Admiralty [Office], to the Royal Society | 28 June 1831 |
| PT/34/6 | Paper, 'Report of experiments made upon the tides in the Irish Sea, and upon the great similarity of tidal phenomena between the Irish and English Channels, and the importance of extending the experiments round the lands end and up the English Channel' in a letter from Captain F W [Frederick William] Beechey to the Hydrographer [Francis Beaufort] | 19 February 1848 |
| MS/426/457 | Copy letter from C R [Charles Richard] Weld, the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Admiral Sir F [Francis] Beaufort | 23 January 1852 |
| MS/426/400 | Copy letter from Edward Sabine, Foreign Secretary fo the Royal Society; to Sir F [Francis] Beaufort | 7 January [1850] |
| CMP/1/2 | Minutes of a meeting of Council of the Royal Society | 13 December 1832 |
| AP/21/20 | Account of a Line of Levels carried across Northern Syria, from the Mediterranean, to the River Euphrates | 1838 |
| AP/21/5 | Meteorological Deductions made from Observations made at the Observatory, Port Louis, Mauritius | 1837 |
| MM/13/84 | Minutes of meeting of the Excise Committee | 11 December 1832 |
| MM/13/85 | Minutes of meeting of the Excise Committee | 20 December 1832 |
| MS/426/401 | Copy letter from Edward Sabine, Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir F [Francis] Beaufort | 7 January 1850 |
| CMP/1/1 | Minutes of a meeting of Council of the Royal Society | 1 December 1832 |
| MS/426/402 | Copy letter from Edward Sabine, Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir F [Francis] Beaufort | 7 January 1850 |
| MM/13/88 | Minutes of meeting of the Excise Committee | 29 January 1833 |
| MM/13/87 | Minutes of meeting of the Excise Committee | 22 January 1833 |
| MM/13/86 | Minutes of meeting of the Excise Committee | 15 January 1833 |
| MC/1/255 | Letter from [Francis] Beaufort, Admiralty Office, to Dr. [Peter Mark] Roget, Secretary of the Royal Society | 23 October 1830 |
| MC/1/262 | Letter from John Augustus Lloyd, Admiralty Office, to Davies Gilbert | 10 December 1830 |
| MC/1/319 | Letter from Sir John Barrow [Second Secretary to the Admiralty], Admiralty Office, to [Dr. Peter Mark Roget], Secretary of the Royal Society | 15 July 1831 |
| MC/2/181 | Letter from Captain Francis Beaufort, Admirality, to John William Lubbock, [Treasurer of the Royal Society] | 11 July 1835 |
| MC/2/285 | Letter from Colonel Francis Rawdon Chesney, 3 Down Street, to Captain Francis Beaufort, hydrographer, Admiralty | 11 June 1838 |
| MC/3/63 | Extract of a letter from [Joseph Barclay] Pentland, Paris, to Captain [Francis] Beaufort | 10 January 1840 |
| MC/3/65 | Letter from Edward Sabine, Royal Society apartments, to John William Lubbock, [Treasurer of the Royal Society] | 18 January 1840 |
| MC/3/232 | Letter from Captain Edward Belcher, HMS Sulphur, Woolwich, to Captain Francis Beaufort, Hydrographer | 2 August 1842 |
| MC/3/276 | Letter from John Augustus Lloyd, Port-Louis, Mauritius, to the Secretary of the Royal Society | 3 May 1843 |
| MC/4/148 | Letter from [Francis] Beaufort to the Royal Society | 13 June 1846 |