 Naval
officer and meteorologist, born near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, E England,
UK. In command of the Beagle he surveyed the coasts of Patagonia and
Tierra del Fuego (1828--30). In 1831, accompanied by
Charles Darwin
as scientific observer, he circumnavigated the globe in the Beagle,
and collaborated with Darwin in publishing in 1839 a Narrative of the
Surveying Voyages of HMS Adventure and Beagle. Appointed Governor of
New Zealand in 1843, he was recalled in 1845 because he maintained that
the Maoris had as much right to claim land as the settlers. In 1854
he was attached to the meteorological department of the board of trade.
He invented the Fitzroy barometer, and instituted the storm warnings
that developed into daily weather forecasts.
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