ADMIRAL ROBERT FITZROY

Robert Fitzroy, son of Lord Charles, was born at Ampton Hall, Suffolk, in 1805 and entered the Navy at the age of 12. During his long career, he was for many years Captain of the HMS Beagle which achieved fame as a result of Charles Darwin's expeditions. He eventually rose to the rank of Admiral, was elected Member of Parliament for Durham in 1841, and appointed Governor of New Zealand in 1843.

At his retirement from active service in 1850, he turned his attention to the science of meteorology. Among his considerable accomplishments, he induced the Times to print weather information on a daily basis and the Board of Trade to supply many coastal villages with barometers. He designed a vastly improved marine barometer. In 1862 he published his Weather Book which summarized his extensive and immensely important work on meteorology.

To the barometer collector, he is most remembered for consolidating weather information and presenting his now classic Remarks, which distinguish the barometer carrying his name, that interpret the meaning of rising or falling mercury.

Admiral Fitzroy's Barometers were not designed by and were probably never seen by Admiral Fitzroy who took his own life in 1865 before the earliest known Fitzroys were made.