Robert FitzRoy

Robert FitzRoy

Physics

Vice-Admiral Robert Fitzroy was born on the 5th of July 1805 near Bury St Edmunds, South-East England. FitzRoy joined the Royal Naval Academy at 12 years old and commissioned as an officer a year later. In 1826, he was appointed meteorologist aboard the survey vessel HMS Beagle, exploring the coasts of southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago at the tip southernmost of South America.

FitzRoy was put in command of the Beagle’s second voyage, charting South America and the Galapagos islands. He was accompanied on this 5-year expedition by Charles Darwin, and during this time Darwin would begin to develop his theory of evolution.

After his retirement from the Navy and his election to the Royal Society, FitzRoy was appointed as head of what today we know as the Meteorological Office.

He compiled shipping forecasts by having live weather data telegraphed to him from ports and ships around the country. Key to this was the nationwide issuing of barometers, which are devices used to measure air pressure. An example of a FitzRoy barometer is in St Andrews.

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