Robert FitzRoy | |
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2nd Governor of New Zealand | |
In office 26 December 1843 – 18 November 1845 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | William Hobson |
Succeeded by | Sir George Grey |
Personal details | |
Born | Ampton Hall, Ampton, Suffolk, England | 5 July 1805
Died | 30 April 1865 Lyndhurst, Westow Hill, Norwood, England[1] | (aged 59)
Cause of death | Suicide |
Spouses |
|
Children | 5 |
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy FRS (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy and a scientist. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, FitzRoy's second expedition to Tierra del Fuego and the Southern Cone.
FitzRoy was a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate daily weather predictions, which he called by a new name of his own invention: "forecasts".[2] In 1854 he established what would later be called the Met Office, and created systems to get weather information to sailors and fishermen for their safety.[2] He was an able surveyor and hydrographer. As Governor of New Zealand, serving from 1843 to 1845, he tried to protect the Māori from illegal land sales claimed by British settlers.[3]
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