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{{Short description|Royal Navy officer and scientist (1805–1865)}}
{{Distinguish|text=the illegitimate son of King Henry I of England [[Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester]], or the Royal Navy admiral [[Robert O'Brien FitzRoy]]}}
{{redirect|Admiral FitzRoy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2011}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Vice-admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice-Admiral]]
| name         = Robert FitzRoy
| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|sep= |FRS|size=100%}}
| nationality  = English
| image        = RobertFitzroy sm.jpg
| caption      = Robert FitzRoy
| order        = 2nd
| office       = Governor of New Zealand
| monarch      = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| term_start   = 26 December 1843
| term_end     = 18 November 1845
| predecessor  = [[William Hobson]]
| successor    = [[George Grey|Sir George Grey]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1805|7|5|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Ampton Hall]], [[Ampton]], Suffolk, England
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1865|4|30|1805|7|5|df=y}}
| death_place  = Lyndhurst, Westow Hill, [[Upper Norwood|Norwood]], England<ref name=Probate>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/5521425:1904?tid=&pid=&queryId=efa8d25b8d53a851af7d0f54c4cf365e&_phsrc=yar1&_phstart=successSource FITZROY Robert Esq... who died 30 April 1865 at Lyndhurst Weston Hill Norwood in the County of Surrey"] in ''Wills and Administrations (England and Wales)'', ancestry.co.uk, accessed 7 January 2023 {{subscription required}}</ref> 
| death_cause  = Suicide
| spouse       = {{ubl|Mary Henrietta O'Brien|Maria Isabella Smyth}}
| children     = 5
}}
[[Vice-admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice-Admiral]] '''Robert FitzRoy''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS}} (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the [[Royal Navy]], politician and scientist who served as the second [[governor of New Zealand]] between 1843 and 1845.

He achieved lasting fame as the captain of {{HMS|Beagle}} during FitzRoy's famous [[Second voyage of HMS Beagle|survey expedition]] to [[Tierra del Fuego]] and the [[Southern Cone]], which took [[Charles Darwin]] round the world.

FitzRoy was a pioneering [[meteorologist]] who made accurate [[weather forecasting|daily weather predictions]], which he called by a new name of his own invention: "forecasts".<ref name="BBC"/> 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.<ref name="BBC"/>

He was an able surveyor and [[hydrography|hydrographer]].

As Governor of New Zealand, serving from 1843 to 1845, he tried to protect the [[Māori people|Māori]] from illegal land sales claimed by British settlers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/robert-fitzroy|title=Robert FitzRoy biography|website=New Zealand history (NZ Govt website)}}</ref>

==Early life and career==
Robert FitzRoy was born at [[Ampton Hall]], [[Ampton]], Suffolk, England, into the upper echelons of the British [[aristocracy]] and a tradition of public service. Through his father, [[Lord Charles FitzRoy (British Army officer)|General Lord Charles FitzRoy]], Robert was a fourth great-grandson of [[Charles II of England]]; his paternal grandfather was [[Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton]]. His mother, Lady Frances Stewart, was the daughter of the first [[Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry|Marquess of Londonderry]] and the half-sister of [[Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh|Viscount Castlereagh]], who became [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]]. From the age of four, Robert FitzRoy lived with his family at [[Wakefield Lodge]], their [[Palladian]] mansion in Northamptonshire.

Robert's half-brother [[Charles Augustus FitzRoy|Sir Charles FitzRoy]] later served as [[Governor of New South Wales]], [[Governor of Prince Edward Island]] and [[Governor of Antigua]].

In February 1818 at the age of 12, FitzRoy entered the [[Royal Naval Academy|Royal Naval College, Portsmouth]], and in the following year he entered the [[Royal Navy]]. At the age of 14, he embarked as a voluntary student aboard the [[frigate]] {{HMS|Owen Glendower|1808|6}}, which sailed to South America in the middle of 1820, and returned in January 1822. He was promoted to [[midshipman]] while on the vessel, then served as such on HMS ''Hind''.

He completed his course with distinction and was promoted lieutenant on 7 September 1824, having passed the examination with 'full numbers' (100%), the first to achieve this result. After serving on {{HMS|Thetis|1817|6}}, in 1828 he was appointed flag lieutenant to [[Rear-Admiral]] [[Robert Waller Otway|Sir Robert Waller Otway]], commander-in-chief of the South American station, aboard {{HMS|Ganges|1821|6}}.

At that time ''Beagle'', under Captain [[Pringle Stokes]], was carrying out a hydrographic survey of [[Tierra del Fuego]], under the overall command of Captain [[Phillip Parker King]] in [[HMS Aid (1809)|HMS ''Adventure'']]. Pringle Stokes became severely depressed and fatally shot himself. Under Lieutenant Skyring, the ship sailed to [[Rio de Janeiro]], where Otway appointed FitzRoy as (temporary) captain of the ''Beagle'' on 15 December 1828. By the ship's return to England on 14 October 1830, FitzRoy had established his reputation as a surveyor and commander.

During the survey, some of his men were camping onshore when a group of [[Tierra del Fuego|Fuegian]] natives made off with their boat. His ship gave chase and, after a scuffle, the culprits' families were brought on board as hostages. Eventually FitzRoy held two boys, a girl and two men (one man escaped). As it was not possible to put them ashore conveniently, he decided to "civilise the savages", teaching them "English ... the plainer truths of Christianity ... and the use of common tools" before returning them as missionaries.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Reinvention of Primitive Society: Transformations of a Myth |author=Adam Kuper |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=London |year=2017 |page=26 }}</ref>

The sailors gave them names: the girl was called [[Fuegia Basket]] (so named because the replacement for the stolen boat was an improvised [[coracle]] that resembled a basket), the younger boy [[Jemmy Button]] (FitzRoy allegedly 'purchased' him with a large pearl button), the man York Minster (after the large rock so-named near which he was captured). The second, elder, boy he named Boat Memory. FitzRoy brought the four back with the ship to England. Boat Memory died following a [[smallpox]] vaccination. The others were cared for and taught by the trainee missionary Richard Matthews; they were considered civilised enough to be presented at Court to [[King William IV]] and [[Queen Adelaide]] in the summer of 1831.

==HMS ''Beagle''{{'}}s second voyage==
{{Main|Second voyage of HMS Beagle}}

In early May 1831 FitzRoy stood as [[Tory]] candidate for [[Ipswich (UK Parliament constituency)|Ipswich]] in the general election, but was defeated. His hopes of obtaining a new posting and organising a missionary project to Tierra del Fuego appeared to be failing. He was arranging for the charter of a ship at his own expense to return the Fuegians with Matthews when his friend [[Francis Beaufort]], [[Hydrographer of the Navy|Hydrographer]] to the [[British Admiralty]], and his "kind uncle", the [[George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton|Duke of Grafton]], interceded on his behalf at the Admiralty. On 25 June 1831 FitzRoy was re-appointed commander of the ''Beagle''. He spared no expense in fitting out the ship.

He was conscious of the stressful loneliness of command. He knew of the suicides both of [[Pringle Stokes|Captain Stokes]] and of his uncle [[Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh|Viscount Castlereagh]], who had cut his own throat in 1822 while in government office. FitzRoy talked to Beaufort in August 1831, asking him to find a suitable gentleman companion for the voyage. Such a companion should share his scientific tastes, make good use of the expedition's opportunities for researching natural history, dine with him as an equal, and provide a semblance of normal human friendship.<ref name=browne>{{Cite book |last=Browne |first=Janet |title=Charles Darwin: Voyaging |publisher=Pimlico |date=7 August 2003 |isbn=1-84413-314-1}}</ref> While those Beaufort first approached (including Professor [[J. S. Henslow]] of the University of Cambridge) turned the opportunity down, FitzRoy eventually approved [[Charles Darwin]] for the position. Before they left England, FitzRoy gave Darwin a copy of the first volume of [[Charles Lyell]]'s ''[[Principles of Geology]]'', a book the captain had read that explained terrestrial features as the outcome of a gradual process taking place over extremely long periods. FitzRoy took a request from Lyell to record observations on geological features, such as erratic boulders.<ref name=intro>Introduction by Janet Browne and Michael Neve to – {{Cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |title=Voyage of the Beagle |publisher=Penguin Books |date=1989 |location=London |isbn=0-14-043268-X}}</ref>

FitzRoy and Darwin got on well together, but there were inevitable strains during the five-year survey voyage. The captain had a violent temper, his outbursts had gained him the nickname "Hot Coffee",<ref name=dm>{{Cite book| last1 = Desmond | first1 = Adrian | author-link = Adrian Desmond | last2 = Moore | first2 = James | author2-link = James Moore (biographer) | year = 1991 | title = Darwin | location = London | publisher = Michael Joseph, Penguin Group | isbn = 0-7181-3430-3}}</ref> which resulted in quarrels sometimes "bordering on insanity", as Darwin later recalled. On a memorable occasion in March 1832 at [[Bahia]], Brazil, Darwin was horrified at tales of the treatment of [[slaves]]. FitzRoy, while not endorsing brutality, recounted how an ''[[estancia]]'' owner once asked his slaves if they wished to be free and was told they did not. Darwin asked FitzRoy if he thought slaves could answer such a question honestly when it was posed by their master, at which the captain lost his temper and, before storming out, told Darwin that if he doubted his word they could no longer live together; effectively he banished Darwin from his table. Before nightfall FitzRoy's temper cooled and he sent an apology, with the request that Darwin "continue to live with him." They avoided the subject of slavery from that time on. None of their quarrels were over religious or doctrinal issues; such disagreements came after the voyage.<ref name=browne />

At the island of "Buttons Land" in [[Tierra del Fuego]] they set up a mission post, but when they returned nine days later, the possessions had been looted. Matthews gave up, rejoining the ship. He left the three "westernised" Fuegians to continue the missionary work.

While in the [[Falkland Islands]], FitzRoy bought a [[schooner]] out of his own funds to assist with the surveying tasks he had been asked to complete. He had it refitted and renamed ''Adventure'', hoping that the cost would be reimbursed by the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]]. They returned to the mission post but found only [[Jemmy Button]]. He had returned to native ways and refused the offer to go with them back to England.

At [[Valparaíso]] in 1834, while Darwin was away from the ship exploring the [[Andes]], the Admiralty reprimanded FitzRoy for buying the ''Adventure''. He took the criticism badly, selling the schooner and announcing they would go back to recheck his survey, then resigning his command with doubts about his sanity. The ship's officers persuaded him to withdraw his resignation and continue as planned once Darwin returned to the ship.<ref name=dm/> FitzRoy continued his voyage, sailing on to the [[Galápagos Islands]], [[Tahiti]], New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. He detoured to [[Salvador, Bahia|Bahia]] in Brazil on the return voyage so that he could carry out an additional check, to ensure the accuracy of his longitude measurements before returning to England.

==Return from the voyage==
Soon after the ''Beagle''{{'s}} return on 2 October 1836, FitzRoy married Mary Henrietta O'Brien, a young woman to whom he had long been engaged. Darwin was amazed, as not once during the entire five years of the trip had FitzRoy spoken about being engaged.

FitzRoy was awarded the [[Royal Premium]] by the [[Royal Geographical Society]] in 1837. Extracts from his diary read to the society on 8 May 1837 included the observation:
:Is it not extraordinary, that sea-worn, ''rolled'', shingle-stones, and alluvial accumulations, compose the greater portion of these plains? How vast, and of what immense ''duration'', must have been the actions of these waters which smoothed the shingle-stones now buried in the deserts of Patagonia!"<ref>{{cite journal |last=FitzRoy |first=R. |year=1837 |title=Extracts from the Diary of an Attempt to Ascend the River Santa Cruz, in Patagonia, with the boats of his Majesty's sloop Beagle |journal=Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London |volume=7 |pages=114–26 |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=2&itemID=A74&viewtype=image |jstor=1797517|doi=10.2307/1797517 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

FitzRoy wrote his account of the voyage, including editing the notes of the previous captain of the ''Beagle.'' It was published in May 1839 as the ''Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle,'' in four volumes, including Darwin's ''Journal and Remarks, 1832–1836'' as the third volume. FitzRoy's account includes a section of ''Remarks with reference to the Deluge'' in which he admits that, having read works "by geologists who contradict, by implication, if not in plain terms, the authenticity of the Scriptures" and "while led away by sceptical ideas," he had remarked to a friend that the vast plain of sedimentary material they were crossing "could never have been effected by a forty days' flood." He wrote that in his "turn of mind and ignorance of scripture," he was willing to disbelieve the Biblical account. Concerned that such ideas might "reach the eyes of young sailors," he explains in detail his renewed commitment to a literal reading of the Bible, with arguments that rock layers high in the mountains containing sea shells are proof of [[Noah's Flood]] and that the six days of creation could not have extended over aeons because the grass, herbs and trees would have died out during the long nights.<ref name=deluge>{{Cite book |chapter=Chapter XXVIII: A Very Few Remarks with Reference to the Deluge |chapter-url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=776&itemID=F10.2&viewtype=text |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |title=Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the second expedition, 1831–36, under the command of Captain Robert Fitz-Roy, R.N.|publisher=Henry Colburn|date=1839|location=London}}</ref><ref name="CD diary">{{cite book |editor-last=Keynes |editor-first=R. D. |year=2001 |title=Charles Darwin's Beagle Diary |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F1925&pageseq=23 |pages=xxi–xxii}}</ref>

R. D. Keynes, in his introduction to the 2001 edition of Darwin's diary, suggests that FitzRoy had undergone a religious conversion.<ref name="CD diary" /> He was dissociating himself from the new ideas of [[Charles Lyell]], which he had accepted during the voyage, and from Darwin's account which embraced these ideas. Under the influence of his very religious wife, he asserted a new commitment to the doctrine of the established [[Church of England]].<ref name=dm />

In 1841 FitzRoy was elected as a Tory as one of the two members of Parliament for [[City of Durham (UK Parliament constituency)|Durham]]. He was appointed [[Acting Conservator of the River Mersey]] in 1842.

==Governor of New Zealand==
[[File:18440511 New-Zealand Festival Riders.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Governor Robert FitzRoy and entourage visiting the Māori conference and feast at Remuera, Auckland, on 11 May 1844]]
The first governor of New Zealand, Captain [[William Hobson]], [[Royal Navy|R.N.]], died in late 1842. The [[Church Missionary Society]], which had a strong New Zealand presence, suggested FitzRoy as his successor and he was appointed by the government. He took up his new task in December 1843. On the journey to New Zealand, he met [[William John Warburton Hamilton]] and made him his private secretary.{{sfn|Scholefield |1940 |p=349}}

His instructions were to maintain order and protect the [[Māori people|Māori]], while satisfying the land hunger of the settlers pouring into the country. He was given very few military resources. Government revenue, mainly from customs duties, was woefully inadequate for his responsibilities.

One of his first tasks was to enquire into the circumstances surrounding the [[Wairau Affray]], in which there had been violent conflict between settlers and the Maori. He found the actions of the colonists to have been illegal and declined to take any action against [[Te Rauparaha]]. He did not have the troops to meet him on anything like equal terms. But the [[New Zealand Company]] and the settlers felt betrayed and angry. He appointed a Government Superintendent for the area, to establish a ruling presence. Fitzroy also insisted that the New Zealand Company pay the Māori a realistic price for the land they claimed to have purchased. These moves made him very unpopular.

Land sales were a continuing vexatious issue. The settlers were eager to buy land and some Māori were willing to sell, but under the provisions of the [[Treaty of Waitangi]], land sales required the Government as an intermediary, and were thus extremely slow. FitzRoy changed the rules to allow settlers to purchase Māori land directly, subject to a duty of ten shillings per acre. But land sales proved slower than expected.

To meet the financial shortfall, FitzRoy raised the customs duties, then replaced them with [[property tax|property]] and [[income tax]]es. All these expedients failed. Before long the Colony was faced with bankruptcy, and FitzRoy was forced to begin issuing [[promissory note]]s, paper money without backing.

Meanwhile, the Māori in the far North, around the [[Bay of Islands]], who had been the first to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, were feeling increasingly sidelined and resentful of the changes that had taken place in New Zealand. To signal their resentment, [[Hōne Heke]] cut down the flagpole at [[Kororāreka]]. Rather than address the problems, FitzRoy had the flagpole re-erected. Hone Heke cut it down again, four times altogether; by the fourth occasion the First New Zealand War, sometimes called the [[Flagstaff War]] or the Northern War, was well under way.

FitzRoy quickly realized that he did not have the resources to bring about a quick end to the war. Meanwhile, the spokesmen for the New Zealand Company were active back in the United Kingdom, lobbying against FitzRoy's governorship, which they presented to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] in a very poor light. As a result, he was shortly afterwards recalled and replaced by [[George Grey]], then [[governor of South Australia]]. Grey was given the backing and financial support that FitzRoy had needed but was denied.

==Later life and impact on meteorology==
[[File:Robert Fitzroy.jpg|thumb|FitzRoy {{Circa|1850}}]]
FitzRoy returned to Britain in September 1848 and was made superintendent of the Royal Naval Dockyards at [[Woolwich]]. In March 1849 he was given his final sea command, the screw frigate {{HMS|Arrogant|1848|6}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Agnew |first=Duncan Carr |title=Robert Fitzroy and the Myth of the 'Marsden Square': Transatlantic Rivalries in Early Marine Meteorology |journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London |volume=58 |issue=1 |page=26 |publisher=The Royal Society |location=London, UK |date=January 2004 |jstor=4142031 |doi= 10.1098/rsnr.2003.0223|s2cid=145354564 }}</ref>

In 1850, FitzRoy retired from active service, partly due to ill health. The following year, in 1851, he was elected to the [[Royal Society]] with the support of 13 fellows, including Charles Darwin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://royalsociety.org/~/media/Royal_Society_Content/about-us/fellowship/Fellows1660-2007.pdf?la=en-GB |title=List of Fellows of the Royal Society 1660–2007 |website=The Royal Society Library and Information Services |access-date=21 September 2016}}</ref>

In 1854, on the recommendation of the President of the Royal Society, FitzRoy was appointed as chief of a new department to deal with the collection of weather data at sea. His title was ''Meteorological Statist to the Board of Trade'', and he had a staff of three. This was the forerunner of the modern [[Met Office|Meteorological Office]]. He arranged for captains of ships to provide information, with tested instruments being loaned for this purpose, and for computation of the data collected.<ref name="Mellersh, H. E. L. 1968">{{Cite book |last=Mellersh |first=H. E. L. |year=1968 |title=FitzRoy of the Beagle |publisher=Hart-Davis |isbn=0-246-97452-4}}</ref>

[[File:FitzRoy.jpg|thumb|FitzRoy c. 1855]]
[[File:Fitzroy fisheries barometer No 98, Stromness, Orkney.jpg|thumb|Fitzroy fisheries barometer No 98, [[Stromness]], [[Orkney]]]]
FitzRoy soon began to work on strategies to make weather information more widely available for the safety of shipping and fishermen. He directed the design and distribution of a type of [[barometer]] which, on his recommendation, was fixed at every port to be available to crews for consultation before setting out to sea. Stone housings for such barometers are still visible at many fishing harbours.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.webhistorian.co.uk/pages/index.php?id=190 |title=Scottish Harbour Barometers |work=Banffshire Maritime & Heritage Association |access-date=17 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225234206/http://www.webhistorian.co.uk/pages/index.php?id=190 |archive-date=25 December 2014}}</ref> The invention of several different types of barometers was attributed to him. These became popular and continued in production into the 20th century, characteristically engraved with ''Admiral FitzRoy's special remarks'' on interpretation, such as: "When rising: In winter the rise of the barometer presages frost."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.queenswood.com/barometer/admiral.htm |title=Admiral FitzRoy's special remarks |work=Queenswood.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705095138/http://www.queenswood.com/barometer/admiral.htm |archive-date=5 July 2007}}</ref>

[[Royal Charter Storm|A storm in 1859]] that caused the loss of the [[Royal Charter (ship)|''Royal Charter'']] inspired FitzRoy to develop charts to allow predictions to be made in which he coined the term "weather forecast".<ref name="Mellersh, H. E. L. 1968"/> Fifteen land stations were established to use the new [[telegraph]] to transmit to him daily reports of weather at set times. The first daily weather forecasts were published in ''[[The Times]]'' in 1861.<ref name="BBC"/> The 1859 storm resulted in the Crown distributing [[storm glass]]es, then known as "FitzRoy's storm barometers", to many small fishing communities around the British Isles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.weathernotebook.org/transcripts/2004/05/07.php |title=Storm Glass |work=The Weather Notebook |publisher=[[Mount Washington Observatory]] |date=7 May 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120114915/http://www.weathernotebook.org/transcripts/2004/05/07.php |archive-date=20 January 2015}}</ref>

In 1860, FitzRoy introduced a system of hoisting storm warning cones at the principal ports when a gale was expected. He ordered fleets to stay in port under these conditions.<ref name="Kington">{{Cite book |title=Climates of the British Isles: Present, Past and Future |first=John |last=Kington |editor-first1=Mike |editor-last1=Hulme |editor-first2=Elaine |editor-last2=Barrow |date=1997 |publisher=Routledge |page=147 |isbn=978-0-41513-016-5}}</ref> The ''Weather Book,'' which he published in 1863, was far in advance of the scientific opinion of the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/library/archive-hidden-treasures/royal-charter|website=Met Office website|title=The Royal Charter Gale and the world's first National Forecasting Service}}</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] once sent messengers to FitzRoy's home requesting a weather forecast for a crossing she was about to make to the [[Isle of Wight]].<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |title=The birth of the weather forecast |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32483678 |last=Moore |first=Peter |date=30 April 2015 |website=BBC News |access-date=30 April 2015}}</ref>

Many fishing fleet owners objected to the posting of gale warnings, which required that fleets not leave the ports. Under this pressure, FitzRoy's system was abandoned for a short time after his death. The fishing fleet owners reckoned without the pressure of the fishermen, for whom FitzRoy had been a hero responsible for saving many lives. The system was eventually reinstated in simplified form in 1874.<ref name="Kington"/>

When ''[[The Origin of Species]]'' was published FitzRoy was dismayed and apparently felt guilty for his part in the theory's development. He was in [[Oxford]] on 30 June 1860 to present a paper on storms and attended [[1860 Oxford evolution debate|the meeting]] of the [[British Association for the Advancement of Science]] at which [[Samuel Wilberforce]] attacked Darwin's theory. During the debate FitzRoy, seen as "a grey haired Roman nosed elderly gentleman", stood in the centre of the audience and "lifting an immense Bible first with both and afterwards with one hand over his head, solemnly implored the audience to believe God rather than man". As he admitted that ''The Origin of Species'' had given him "acutest pain", the crowd shouted him down.<ref name="Desmond Moore p. 495">{{cite book | last1=Desmond | first1=Adrian J. | last2=Moore | first2=James R. | title=Darwin | publisher=Michael Joseph | publication-place=London | date=1991 | isbn=0-7181-3430-3 | oclc=26502431 | page=495}}</ref>

FitzRoy debunked Lieutenant [[Stephen Martin Saxby]]'s lunar weather forecasting method as pseudoscience. Saxby tried to counter FitzRoy's arguments in the second edition of his book ''Saxby Weather System'' (1864).<ref>{{cite book |last=Saxby |first=S. M. |title=Saxby Weather System |url=https://archive.org/details/saxbysweathersys00saxbrich |date=1864}}</ref>

===Death and legacy===
[[File:Robert FitzRoy's Grave.JPG|thumb|Robert FitzRoy's grave outside All Saints' Church, [[Upper Norwood]], south London]]
FitzRoy had been promoted to rear-admiral on the reserved list in 1857<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21968|page=539|date=17 February 1857}}</ref> and was advanced to vice-admiral in 1863.<ref>{{London Gazette|nolink=y|issue=22772|page=4561|date=18 September 1863}}</ref> In the coming years, internal and external troubles at the Meteorological Office, financial concerns as well as failing health, and his struggle with [[Mood disorder|depression]] took their toll.<ref>Gribbin, John & Mary (2003). FitzRoy. Review. {{ISBN|0-7553-1181-7}}</ref>

On 30 April 1865, Vice-Admiral FitzRoy died by suicide<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/208939/Robert-Fitzroy |title=Robert Fitzroy |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=15 June 2009}}</ref> by cutting his throat with a razor.<ref>{{cite book |last=Browne |first=E. Janet |title=Charles Darwin: The Power of Place |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0CeYRJnWmYC&q=%22Robert+FitzRoy%22+suicide+cut&pg=PA264 |volume=2 |date=2002 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-11439-0 |page=264}}</ref> This took place at Lyndhurst, Westow Hill, [[Upper Norwood|Norwood]].<ref name=Probate/> He died after exhausting his entire fortune (some £6,000, {{Inflation|UK|6000|1865|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) on public expenditure.

When this came to light, in order to prevent Fitzroy's widow and daughter living in destitution, his friend and colleague [[Bartholomew Sulivan]] began an Admiral FitzRoy Testimonial Fund, which succeeded in getting the government to pay £3,000 of this sum<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oCWGX18UrhEC&q=Admiral+FitzRoy+Testimonial+Fund&pg=PA259|title=The Correspondence of Charles Darwin:, Volume 13; Volume 1865, page 259|isbn=9780521824132|last1=Darwin|first1=Charles|date=19 December 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> ([[Charles Darwin]] contributed £100).<ref name="Letter no. 4908">{{cite web |title=Letter no. 4908 – Charles Shaw to Charles Darwin |website=Darwin Correspondence Project |date=3 October 1865 |url=http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4908.xml;query=fitzroy%20fund;brand=default |access-date=17 February 2016}}</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] gave the special favour of allowing his widow and daughter the use of [[grace and favour]] apartments at [[Hampton Court Palace]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSEmCgAAQBAJ&q=queen+victoria+Admiral+FitzRoy+widow+apartment&pg=PA182|title='The Voyage of the Beagle' by James Taylor, page 182|isbn=9781844863273|last1=Taylor|first1=James|date=17 May 2016|publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}</ref>

FitzRoy is buried in the front churchyard of All Saints' Church in [[Upper Norwood]], south London where his footstone reads<ref name=verse>{{cite news |last1=Gilbert |first1=Gilbert |title=The Fitzroy Grave - an Epilogue |url=https://www.norwoodsociety.co.uk/articles/the-fitzroy-grave-an-epilogue |work=Norwood Review |publisher=The Norwood Society |date=1981}}</ref>
<poem>
"The wind goeth toward the south,
and turneth about unto the north;
it whirleth about continually,
and the wind returneth again
according to his circuits"
           Ecclesiastes 1.6.</poem>

His memorial was restored by the Meteorological Office in 1981 with the same inscription.<ref name= verse /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gilbert |first1=Hildat |title=Admiral Robert Fitzroy - his Grave |url=https://www.norwoodsociety.co.uk/articles/admiral-robert-fitzroy-his-grave |work=Norwood Review|publisher=The Norwood Society |date=1979}}</ref>

FitzRoy's publications arising from the ''Beagle'' expeditions were influential on Chilean exploration and settlement of Patagonia. His recommendation on establishing a British base on the [[Straits of Magellan]] to aid the travel between the British Isles and Australia contributed to the Chilean decision to [[Chilean colonization of the Strait of Magellan|occupy the straits in the 1840s]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=A history of the Chilean boundaries |last=Talbott |first=Robert D.|chapter=The Strait of Magellan |publisher=The Iowa State University Press |year=1974 |isbn=0-8138-0305-5 |edition=A Replica |location=|pages=75–76}}</ref> FitzRoy's book ''Sailing Directions for South America'' led Chilean Navy hydrographer [[Francisco Hudson]] to investigate in the 1850s the possible existence of a sailing route through internal waters from the [[Chiloé Archipelago]] to the Straits of Magellan.<ref name=Sepulveda>{{Citation
 |last         = Sepúlveda Ortíz
 |first        = Jorge
 |title        = Francisco Hudson, un destacado marino poco conocido en nuestra historia
 |journal      = [[Revista de Marina]]
 |year         = 1998
 |pages        = 1–20
 |url          = http://revistamarina.cl/revistas/1998/6/sepulved.pdf
 |language     = es
 |access-date  = 17 February 2019
 |archive-date = 23 January 2019
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20190123230452/http://revistamarina.cl/revistas/1998/6/sepulved.pdf
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref> [[Enrique Simpson]] found instead FitzRoy's mapping of little use, noting in 1870 that "Fitzroy's chart, that is quite exact until that point <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Melinka]] 43° 53' S], is worthless further ahead...". Thus south of Melinka, Simpson relied more in the late 18th-century sketches of [[José de Moraleda y Montero]].<ref>Simpson, E. (1874). ''Esploraciones hechas por la Corbeta Chacabuco al mando del capitán de fragata don Enrique M. Simpson en los Archipiélagos de Guaitecas, Chonos i Taitao''. [[Santiago]]. Imprenta Nacional.</ref> Simpson's contemporary [[Francisco Vidal Gormaz]] was critical of the overall work of FitzRoy and Darwin, stating that they had failed to acknowledge the importance of the Patagonian islands.<ref name=Nunezyco>{{cite journal |last1=Núñez |first1=Andrés G. |last2=Molina O.|first2=Raúl |last3=Aliste A. |first3=Enrique |last4=Bello A. |first4=Álvaro |date=2016 |title=Silencios geográficos de Patagonia-Aysén: Territorio, nomadismo y perspectivas para re-pensar los margenes de la nación en el siglo XIX|trans-title=Geographical silences in Patagonia-Aysén: Territory, nomadism and perspectives for re-thinking the margins of Chile in the nineteenth century |journal=[[Magallania]] |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=107–130 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442016000200006 |language=es |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Robert FitzRoy married twice. He married Mary Henrietta O'Brien, daughter of Major General Edward James O'Brien and Rachel Charlotte Frobisher, in 1836.<ref name="Burke's Peerage 2003">{{cite book |title=Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage |edition=107th |volume=2 |editor=Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd |date=2003 |page=1617}}</ref> They had four children: Emily-Unah, Fanny, Katherine and [[Robert O'Brien FitzRoy|Robert O'Brien]]. After the death of his first wife, he married Maria Isabella Smyth, daughter of [[John Henry Smyth]] of [[Heath Hall, Heath, West Yorkshire]] (son of the politician [[John Smyth (1748–1811)|John Smyth]]), in London in 1854. Smyth had married his first cousin, Lady Elizabeth Anne FitzRoy—both being grandchildren of the 3rd Duke of Grafton, as was Robert FitzRoy. Lady Elizabeth was daughter of the [[George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton|4th Duke of Grafton]] and was a first cousin of Robert FitzRoy. Maria Isabella was therefore Robert's first cousin once removed. They had one daughter, Laura Maria Elizabeth (1858–1943).<ref name="Burke's Peerage 2003"/>

==Memorials==
A neighbourhood in the city of [[Punta Arenas]] Chile, was named in his honour in 1964.

A memorial to FitzRoy is erected atop a metamorphic outcrop beside the [[Bahia Wulaia]] dome [[middens]] on [[Isla Navarino]], in the [[Chile]]an part of [[Tierra del Fuego]] archipelago, South America.<ref name=FitzRoyBicen>{{cite web |title=Homenaje a un navegante singular |url=http://www.nuestro.cl/notas/rescate/fitz_roy1.htm |publisher=Patrimonio Cultural De Chile |access-date=5 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702220152/http://www.nuestro.cl/notas/rescate/fitz_roy1.htm |archive-date=2 July 2007 |language=es |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=C. Michael |last=Hogan |year=2008 |url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18795 |title=Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens |work=Megalithic Portal}}</ref> It was presented in his bicentenary (2005) and commemorates his 23 January 1833 landing on Wulaia Cove. Another memorial, presented also in FitzRoy's bicentenary, commemorates his [[Cape Horn]] landing on 19 April 1830.<ref name=FitzRoyBicen />

[[File:Fitz Roy Chalten Argentina Todor Bozhinov 2013.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|[[Fitz Roy|Mount Fitz Roy]], [[Patagonia]]]]
[[File:Admiral Fitzroy Inn and sign.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|The [[Admiral Fitzroy Inn]] in Newport, Rhode Island, US, is named in his honour.<ref>{{cite web |title=About the Inn |url=https://www.admiralfitzroy.com/about-the-inn |website=Admiral Fitzroy Inn |access-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820061126/https://www.admiralfitzroy.com/rates1 |archive-date=20 August 2019}}</ref>]]

[[Mount Fitz Roy]] at the [[Argentina–Chile border]] was named after him by the Argentine scientist and explorer [[Francisco Moreno]].  It is {{convert|3440|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} high.  The aboriginals had not named it, and used the word ''chaltén'' (meaning smoking mountain) for this and other peaks.

[[Fitzroy River (Western Australia)|Fitzroy River]], in northern Western Australia, was named after him by Lieutenant [[John Lort Stokes]] who, at the time, commanded HMS ''Beagle'' (previously commanded by FitzRoy).

The South American [[conifer]] [[Fitzroya|''Fitzroya cupressoides'']] is named after him, as well as the ''Delphinus fitzroyi'', a species of dolphin discovered by Darwin during his voyage aboard the ''Beagle''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bryson |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Bryson |year=2005 |title=A Short History of Nearly Everything |location=London |publisher=Transworld |page=481}}</ref>

[[Fitzroy, Falkland Islands]] and [[Port Fitzroy]], New Zealand are also named after him.

The World War II [[Captain class frigate]] {{HMS|Fitzroy|K553}} was named after him, as was the weather ship ''Admiral Fitzroy'' (formerly {{HMS|Amberley Castle|K386|6}}).

In 2010 New Zealand's [[National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research]] (NIWA) named its new [[IBM]] [[supercomputer]] "FitzRoy" in honour of him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?ContentId=8862|title=NIWA Installs new IBM supercomputer |work=Geekzone |date=21 July 2010}}</ref>

On 4 February 2002, when the [[Shipping Forecast|shipping forecast sea area]] Finisterre was renamed to avoid confusion with the (smaller) French and Spanish forecast area of the [[Cape Finisterre|same name]], the new name chosen by the UK's Meteorological Office was "FitzRoy", in honour of their founder.

FitzRoy has been commemorated by the Fitzroy Building at the [[University of Plymouth]], home of Plymouth Business School,<ref>{{cite web | title=£14.5million project creates a new home for the Plymouth Business School | date=26 January 2024 | url=https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/14-5million-project-creates-a-new-home-for-the-plymouth-business-school }}</ref> and previously used by the School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Science.

There is [[blue plaque]] on FitzRoy's house at 38 [[Onslow Square]], London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/admiral-robert-fitzroy/ |title=FitzRoy, Admiral Robert (1805-1865) |website=English Heritage |access-date=19 May 2020}}</ref>

Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy was commemorated on two stamps issued by the [[Royal Mail]] for the [[Falkland Islands]] and [[St Helena]].

[[Fitzroy River (Western Australia)|Fitzroy River]] and [[Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia|Fitzroy Crossing]] in Western Australia are named after FitzRoy. [[Fitzroy Island (Queensland)|Fitzroy Island]] in Queensland, Australia, is named after FitzRoy's paternal grandfather, Augustus Henry Fitzroy.

==In fiction==
The [[BBC]] made a [[BAFTA]] award-winning television series in 1978 titled ''[[The Voyage of Charles Darwin]]'' where Captain Robert Fitzroy was played by actor [[Andrew Burt]] with [[Malcolm Stoddard]] as Darwin with a storyline that followed the historic interaction between Darwin and FitzRoy before and after their time together on HMS ''Beagle''.
<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216517/|title=The Voyage of Charles Darwin |work=IMDb.com |access-date=19 May 2020}}</ref>

In 1997, the play ''FitzRoy'' by [[Juliet Aykroyd]] was first performed at the [[University of Reading]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/DARWIN-FITZROY-Juliet-Aykroyd-ebook/dp/B00FQ1D71W |title=Darwin & FitzRoy |first=Juliet |last=Aykroyd |date=8 October 2013 |publisher=Sulivan & Stokes |access-date=23 March 2017 |via=Amazon}}</ref> It has since been performed under the title ''The Ostrich and the Dolphin''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uktw.co.uk/archive/Play/The-Ostrich-and-the-Dolphin/S81754965/ |title=The Ostrich and the Dolphin (play) |work=UK Theatre Web |access-date=23 March 2017}}</ref> – alluding to [[Darwin's rhea]] and the [[dusky dolphin]], named ''Delphinus fitzroyi'' by Darwin – before being published as ''Darwin & FitzRoy'' in October 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.staythirstymedia.com/bookpublishing/html/authors/sulivan-stokes/aykroyd-juliet.html |title=Authors: Juliet Aykroyd |work=Stay Thirsty Media |access-date=23 March 2017}}</ref>

A novel by Argentinian writer, Sylvia Iparraguirre, entitled ''Tierra del Fuego'', was published in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tierra del Fuego |url=https://nupress.northwestern.edu/content/tierra-del-fuego |publisher=Northwestern University Press |access-date=5 July 2020 |archive-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925233905/https://nupress.northwestern.edu/content/tierra-del-fuego |url-status=dead }}</ref> It retells the story of Fitzroy's experiment with "civilizing" the Yamaná from the perspective of a fictional narrator, British-Argentinian Jack Guevarra. The novel received the [[Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize|Sor Juana de la Cruz prize]] and was translated into English by Hardie St. Martin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Literature Award - 1999 - Sylvia Iparraguirre |url=https://www.fil.com.mx/sor/1999.asp |website=Guadalajara International Book Fair |access-date=5 July 2020 |quote=Tierra del Fuego is the novel with which the Argentinean Sylvia Iparraguirre won the 1999 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize for a novel written by women, awarded by the Guadalajara International Book Fair.}}</ref>

A novel entitled ''[[This Thing of Darkness]]'' by [[Harry Thompson]] was published in 2005 (it was published in the U.S. in 2006 under the title ''To the Edge of the World''). The novel's plot followed the lives of FitzRoy, Darwin and others connected with the ''Beagle'' expeditions, following them between the years of 1828 and 1865. It was a nominee on the [[Short list#Literary awards|long list]] for the 2005 [[Man Booker Prize]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://themanbookerprize.com/books/thing-darkness-by |title=This Thing of Darkness |year=2005 |work=Man Booker Prize |access-date=23 March 2017}}</ref> (although Thompson died in November 2005).

The novel ''Darwin's Dreams'' by Sean Hoade was published in 2008 and republished in a new edition in 2016. The novel begins with the first meeting of Darwin and FitzRoy and ends with Darwin receiving notice of FitzRoy's suicide. The plot is interlaced with fictional "dreams" that imagine how the world would be if the ideas of evolutionary thinkers over the millennia had been literally true. The dreams also show how Darwin's subconscious dealt with major themes in his life such as the death of his beloved daughter Annie and his lifelong friendship and rivalry with FitzRoy.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hoade |first=Sean |title=Darwin's Dreams |url=https://seanhoade.com/the-literary-historical-fantasy-darwins-dreams/ |access-date=28 June 2016 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808182900/https://seanhoade.com/the-literary-historical-fantasy-darwins-dreams/ |archive-date=8 August 2016  }}</ref>

The play ''Darwins Kapten'' was published by [[Henning Mankell]] in 2009, and had its world premiere in 2010 at the [[Royal Dramatic Theatre]] in [[Stockholm]]. It is about Darwin and his journey on the ''Beagle'': many years after the five-year long voyage, Darwin receives a message that his captain on the ship, FitzRoy, has died by suicide. The play portrays the reception of Darwin's discoveries, as well as the consequences of taking a stand against existing ideas in a world that is built on belief in God as the only creator of life.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mankell |first=Henning |title=Darwin's Captain |url=http://henningmankell.com/theater/plays/darwins-captain/ |work=henningmankell.com |access-date=10 June 2015 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222021849/http://henningmankell.com/theater/plays/darwins-captain/ |archive-date=22 February 2015  }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[European and American voyages of scientific exploration]]
*[[Second voyage of HMS Beagle|Second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'']]
*[[HMS Beagle|HMS ''Beagle'']]
*''[[The Voyage of the Beagle]]''

==References==
;Citations
{{Reflist}}
;Bibliography
* ''Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe.''
** {{Cite book |last=King |first=P. P. |author-link=Phillip Parker King |date=1839 |editor-last=FitzRoy |editor-first=Robert |title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the first expedition, 1826–30, under the command of Captain P. Parker King, R.N., F.R.S. |location=London |publisher=Henry Colburn |volume=I |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.1&viewtype=text&pageseq=1 |access-date=27 January 2009}}
** {{Cite book |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |date=1839 |title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the second expedition, 1831–36, under the command of Captain Robert Fitz-Roy, R.N. |location=London |publisher=Henry Colburn |volume=II |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.2&viewtype=text&pageseq=1 |access-date=27 January 2009}}
** {{Cite book |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |date=1839 |title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe |location=London |publisher=Henry Colburn |volume=Appendix to Volume II |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.2a&viewtype=text&pageseq=1 |access-date=27 January 2009}}
* {{Cite book |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |title=Remarks on New Zealand, in February 1846 |location=London |publisher=W. and H. White |date=2012|orig-date=1846 |edition=Digitised first|isbn=978-0-902041-13-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_QxAQAAMAAJ}}
* {{Cite book |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |title=Notes on Meteorology |publisher=Board of Trade |date=1859}}
* {{Cite book |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |title=Barometer Manual |publisher=Board of Trade |date=1860}}
* {{Cite book |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |title=The Weather Book: A Manual of Practical Meteorology |location=London |publisher=Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green |date=1863}}
* {{Cite book |last=Collins |first=Philip R. |title=FitzRoy and his barometers |publisher=Baros Books |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-948382-14-7}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gribbin |first1=John |last2=Gribbin |first2=Mary |name-list-style=amp |title=FitzRoy: The Remarkable Story of Darwin's Captain and the Invention of the Weather Forecast |publisher=Review |date=2003 |isbn=0-7553-1182-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marks |first=Richard Lee |title=Three Men of The Beagle |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |date=1991 |isbn=0-394-58818-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/threemenofbeagle00mark }}
* {{Cite book |last=Mellersh |first=H. E. L. |title=FitzRoy of the Beagle |publisher=Hart-Davis |date=1968 |isbn=0-246-97452-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Moon |first=Paul |title=FitzRoy: Governor in Crisis 1843–1845 |publisher=David Ling Publishing |date=2000 |isbn=0-908990-70-7}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nichols |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Nichols (author) |title=Evolution's Captain: The Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World |publisher=HarperCollins |date=2003 |isbn=978-0060-08877-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/evolutionscaptai00nich }} UK edition: ''Evolution's Captain: The Tragic Fate of Robert FitzRoy, the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World'' (Profile Books, 2003) {{ISBN|978-1-8619-7451-8}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Scholefield |editor-first=Guy Hardy |editor-link=Guy Scholefield |title=A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L |volume=I  |date=1940 |publisher=[[Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand)|Department of Internal Affairs]] |location=Wellington |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/sites/default/files/documents/dnzb-1940/scholefield-dnzb-v1.pdf |access-date=21 September 2013}}
* {{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=James |title=The Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin's extraordinary adventure aboard FitzRoy's famous survey ship |publisher=Naval Institute Press |date=2008 |isbn=978-1-59114-920-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Harry |title=This Thing of Darkness |publisher=Headline Review |date=2005 |isbn=0-7553-0281-8}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Robert FitzRoy}}
* {{cite wikisource |first=William Richard |last=O'Byrne |chapter=FitzRoy, Robert |title=A Naval Biographical Dictionary |year=1849 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]}}
* {{wikisource author-inline}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-robert-fitzroy | Robert FitzRoy }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041010113052/http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/heavy-weather/page2.asp Science Museum | Heavy Weather | Admiral FitzRoy and the FitzRoy barometer]
* [https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A2344736 BBC – h2g2 – Robert FitzRoy]
* [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1F12 Dictionary of New Zealand Biography]
* [http://www.gg.govt.nz/node/1309 Government House, Wellington biography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101021022925/https://www.panoramio.com/photo/11582295 Image of Robert FitzRoy's commemorative plaque in Horn Island (Chile)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180930064519/http://britishhistoricalarchive.cl/Fitzroy/MonolitoFitzRoy1.jpg Image of Robert FitzRoy's memorial at Wulaia Bay (Chile)]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=26131}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Robert FitzRoy}}
* [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_qNK7AAAAIAAJ <!-- quote="robert fitzroy" weather book. --> The Weather Book]
* [http://royalsociety.org/events/2007/robert-fitzroy/ Robert FitzRoy FRS: sailing into the storm] – an audio lecture by Dr John Gribbin at Royal Society website
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32483678 BBC News Magazine – The birth of the weather forecast]

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{{s-bef | before = [[William Charles Harland]]<br />[[Thomas Colpitts Granger]] }}
{{s-ttl
 | title = Member of Parliament for [[City of Durham (UK Parliament constituency)|City of Durham]]
 | years = [[1841 United Kingdom general election|1841]]–[[1843 City of Durham by-election|1843]]
 | with  = [[Thomas Colpitts Granger]]
}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Arthur Hill-Trevor, 3rd Viscount Dungannon|Viscount Dungannon]]<br />[[Thomas Colpitts Granger]] }}

{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef | before = Captain [[William Hobson]]}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Governor-General of New Zealand|Governor of New Zealand]] | years=1843–1845}}
{{s-aft | after = Sir [[George Grey]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors-General of New Zealand}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzroy, Robert}}
[[Category:English meteorologists]]
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[[Category:Charles Darwin]]
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