| Authorised form of name | FitzRoy; Robert (1805 - 1865); hydrographer and meteorologist |
| Other forms of surname | Fitz Roy |
| Dates | 1805 - 1865 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Ampton Hall, Suffolk, England |
| Date of birth | 05 July 1805 |
| Place of death | Upper Norwood, London |
| Date of death | 30 April 1865 |
| Research field | Hydrography |
| Meteorology |
| Activity | Education:
Rottingdean; Harrow School (1817-1818); Royal Naval College, Portsmouth - winner of mathematical prize (1819)
Career:
Volunteer, later midshipman, 'Owen Glendower'; served on the 'Hind' and 'Cambrian' in the Mediterranean; served on the 'Seringapatam' on the English Channel; Lieutenants examination - first out of 27 candidates; served on the 'Thetis' as lieutenant, flag-lieutenant, 'Ganges'; commanded the 'Beagle' charting the coasts of southern South America under Captain Philip Parker King - spent 33 days in an open whaleboat during subantarctic winter; carried four Fuegians back to England, one of whom died, educated the remaining three at his own expense; sailed in the 'Beagle' to return Fuegians to their homeland and continue survey, accompanied by Charles Darwin (November 1831 - October 1836); published a narrative of the 'Beagle' voyages (1839); elected elder brother of Trinity House (July 1839); Gold medal, Royal Geographical Society (1836); MP for Tory seat in Co Durham (1841); Governor of New Zealand (1843-1845); Superintendent, Woolwich Dockyard (September 1848); retired from active service (February 1850), Rear Admiral (1857), Vice Admiral (1863); managing director, General Screw Steam Shipping Company; personal secretary to Lord Hardinge (his uncle); member of Athenaeum (1852); meteorological statist, Meteorological Department, Board of Trade (1854); committee of management, Royal National Lifeboat Institution (1859); co-ordinated first storm warning signals (February 1861), published in newspapers (August 1861); initiated use of term 'forecast'; published 'Weather Book' (1863); Board of Trade demanded that forecasts cease; committed suicide at his home, Lyndhurst, Westwood Hill, Upper Norwood, Surrey.
Memberships:
RGS |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 05/06/1851 |
| Relationships | Son of Lord Charles Fitzroy (1764-1829) and Lady Frances Anne Stewart (d 1810); married (1836) Maria Henrietta (d 5 April 1852), daughter of Major General Edward James O'Brien; married (1854) Maria Isabella Smyth |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; DNZB; authority from Charter book signature and Obituary notice
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1866-1867 vol 15 pp xxi-xxiii
References:
Sir Gavin de Beer, ed, 'Some Unpublished Letters of Charles Darwin' in NR 1959 vol 14 pp 12-66
Gregory Estes, K Thalia Grant and Peter R Grant, 'Darwin in the Galapagos: his footsteps through the Archipelago' in NR 2000 vol 54 pp 343-368
D Carr Agnew, 'Robert Fitzroy and the myth of 'Marsden Square': Transatlantic rivalries in early marine meteorology' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 21-46
F Kurzer, 'The life and work of Charles Tomlinson FRS: A Career in Victorian Science and Technology' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 203-226 |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/32057224 |
| Code | NA6774 |
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| MM/17/13 | Letter from Robert Fitzroy to the Secretary of the Royal Society | 5 March 1863 |
| IM/001428 | Fitzroy, Robert | March 2000 |
| MS/426/662 | Copy letter from B C [Benjamin Collins] Brodie; President of the Royal Society; to Ed [Edward] Hammond Esq, Foreign Office | 26 February 1859 |
| MM/14/74 | Memorandum on the Meteorological Office by Edward Sabine | 1865 |
| IM/Maull/001427 | Fitzroy, Robert | nd |
| IM/005750 | Fitzroy, Robert | 2000 |
| IM/005752 | Fitzroy, Robert | 2000 |
| IM/005749 | Fitzroy, Robert | 2000 |
| IM/005751 | Fitzroy, Robert | 2000 |
| IM/005620 | Fitzroy, Robert | 2001 |
| IM/005743 | Fitzroy, Robert | 2000 |
| CMB/42/15 | Meeting of the Kara Sea Bottle Committee | 17 November 1853 |
| IM/005618 | Fitzroy, Robert | 2001 |
| MS/743/1/30 | Letter from Robert Fitzroy, Board of Trade (and Admiralty) Meteorological Department, to John Hall Gladstone | 13 November 1858 |
| MS/426/702 | Copy letter from W [William] Sharpey, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Admiral [Robert] FitzRoy | 8 November 1860 |
| MS/426/681 | Copy letter from C R [Charles Richard] Weld, the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Admiral FitzRoy | 21 December 1859 |
| EC/1851/07 | Fitzroy, Robert: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| MS/743/1/31 | Letter from Robert Fitzroy, 2 Parliament Square, to [John Hall] Gladstone | 19 November 1858 |
| IM/005619 | Fitzroy, Robert | 2001 |
| IM/005741 | Fitzroy, Robert | 2000 |
| MS/743/1/57 | Letter from Robert Fitzroy, Meteorological Office, to [John Hall] Gladstone | 10 March 1863 |
| MS/426/593 | Copy letter from W [William] Sharpey, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Captain [Francis] McClintock R N | 6 June 1857 |
| MC/6 | Volume 6 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1859-1863 |
| MC/6/366 | Letter from Rob [Robert] FitzRoy, Board of Trade, Meteorologic Office, 2 Parliament Street, London, to [Sir Edward Sabine], President of the Royal Society | 18 November 1863 |
| MC/7/222 | Draft letter from [Sir Edward Sabine, President of the Royal Society], Burlington House, to multiple correspondents | June 1865 |
| MC/7 | Volume 7 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1864-1866 |
| AP/16/12 | Unpublished paper, 'Magnetic observations at the Royal Observatory Cape of Good Hope' by Robert FitzRoy | 1836 |
| MS/257/2/156 | Letter from Robert FitzRoy to Edward Sabine | 5 May 1857 |
| MS/257/2/157 | Letter from Robert FitzRoy to Edward Sabine | 25 June 1860 |
| MS/257/2/158 | Letter from Robert FitzRoy, Meteorological Office to Edward Sabine | 26 September 1862 |
| MS/257/4/61 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 5 October 1855 |
| MS/257/4/56 | Letter from Edward Sabine to [Robert] FitzRoy | 26 August 1854 |
| MS/257/4/58 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 4 October 1855 |
| MS/257/4/66 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 28 November 1855 |
| MS/257/4/68 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 27 April [1788-1883] |
| MS/257/4/57 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 7 September 1855 |
| MS/257/4/59 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 5 October 1855 |
| MS/257/4/60 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 5 October 1855 |
| MS/257/4/62 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 8 October 1855 |
| MS/257/4/64 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 9 November 1855 |
| MS/257/4/67 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 19 December 1855 |
| MS/257/4/63 | Letter from Edward Sabine, 13 Ashley Place to [Robert] FitzRoy | 11 October 1855 |
| MS/257/4/65 | Letter from Edward Sabine to [Robert] FitzRoy | 4 December 1855 |