- John Lort Stokes
Admiral John Lort Stokes, RN (1812 -June 11 ,1885 ) was an officer in theRoyal Navy who travelled on "HMS Beagle " for close to eighteen years.Stokes grew up in Scotchwell near Haverfordwest,
Pembrokeshire . He joined the Navy onSeptember 20 ,1824 . The first ship he served on was "HMS Prince Regent", then in October 1825 he joined the crew of the "Beagle" under CaptainPhillip Parker King . The "Beagle" was involved in a survey of the waters ofSouth America . In 1828 the commander of "HMS Beagle ", Pringle Stokes (not related to John Lort Stokes), died andRobert FitzRoy assumed command; the ship returned to England in 1830 and was recommissioned. From 1831 to 1836 Stokes served onboard withCharles Darwin .Following the second voyage of the "Beagle" Stokes was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and served under Commander
John Clements Wickham for a survey of Australasian waters. When Wickham was invalidated in 1841, Stokes took command of the ship. While Stokes was in command the "Beagle" surveyedTimor andNew Zealand , returning to England in 1843. When he returned he wrote "Discoveries in Australia, with an account of the coasts and rivers explored and surveyed during the voyage of the Beagle, 1837–1843"; it was published in 1846.In July 1846 Stokes was promoted to captain and commanded the steam ship "Acheron" surveying
New Zealand for four years. From 1860 to 1863 he commanded a ship surveying the coasts of theEnglish Channel . He retired in 1863, was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1863, vice-admiral in 1871 and admiral in 1877. He died at his home in Scotchwell.References
*Laughton, J. K. Stokes, John Lort (1812-1885), "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004
*Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=John Lort|Last=Stokes|Link=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogSt-Sy.html#stokes1External links
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