Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

John Lort Stokes, RN (1 August 1811 – 11 June 1885)Although 1812 is frequently given as Stokes's year of birth, it has been argued by author Marsden Hordern that Stokes was born in 1811, citing a letter by fellow naval officer Crawford Pasco congratulating him on his birthday in 1852. was an officer in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

who travelled on for close to eighteen years.

Biography

Born on 1 August 1811, son of Henry Stokes, of Scotchwell, near

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, and Anne, daughter of Dr George Phillips, Stokes joined the

on 20 September 1824. The first ship he served on was , and then in October 1825 he joined the crew of ''Beagle'' under Captain

Phillip Parker King Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Ann ...

. ''Beagle'' was involved in a survey of the waters of South America. In 1828 the commander of HMS ''Beagle'',

Pringle Stokes Pringle Stokes (23 April 1793 – 12 August 1828) was a British naval officer who served in HMS '' Owen Glendower'' on a voyage around Cape Horn to the Pacific coast of South America, and on the West African coast fighting the slave trade. He th ...

(not related to John Lort Stokes), committed suicide and

Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (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 during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, FitzRoy's second expedition to Tierra de ...

assumed command; the ship returned to England in 1830 and was recommissioned. From 1831 to 1836 Stokes served under FitzRoy as assistant surveyor for the second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'', and shared his cabin with

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

who was on board in a private capacity as a self-funded naturalist. Following this, Stokes was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and served under Commander

John Clements Wickham John Clements Wickham (21 November 17986 January 1864) was a Scottish explorer, naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was first lieutenant on during its second survey mission, 1831–1836, under captain Robert FitzRoy. The young ...

for a survey of Australasian waters. When Wickham was invalided in 1841, Stokes took command of the ship. While Stokes was in command, ''Beagle'' surveyed

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, returning to England in 1843. When he returned he wrote an account of this voyage of the ''Beagle'', which was published in 1846 in two volumes. Admiral John Lort Stokes 1812-1885 by Stephen Pearce

Admiral John Lort Stokes 1812-1885 by Stephen Pearce

In July 1846 Stokes was promoted to captain and commanded the steamship surveying New Zealand for four years. This was one of 26

hydrography Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primar ...

surveys conducted by the British Hydrography Office around the world, and was also tasked with investigating natural resources and negotiating between British settles and the Maori inhabitants of New Zealand. Due to budget cuts, ''Acheron'' was replaced by a smaller vessel, from 1851 to 1856. The charts produced by Stokes remain in use to this day. From 1860 to 1863 Stokes commanded the ship HMS ''Rose'', surveying the coasts of the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. He retired in 1863, was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1863, vice-admiral in 1871 and admiral in 1877. He died on 11 June 1885 at his home in Scotchwell.

Legacy

Stokes is commemorated in the scientific name of two species of reptiles: '' Astrotia stokesii'' and '' Egernia stokesii''. In 1848

Stokes Inlet Stokes Inlet is an inlet in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The inlet is situated west of Esperance in Stokes National Park and is set is a large river valley with permanent deep water and high dunes located on either s ...

and

Lort River Lort River is a river located in the Goldfields-Esperance region and the Eastern Mallee sub-region of Western Australia. Lort River was named in 1848 by John Septimus Roe the Surveyor General of Western Australia while leading a five-man expl ...

on the south coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

were named by

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in ...

the

Surveyor General of Western Australia The Surveyor General of Western Australia is the person nominally responsible for government surveying in Western Australia. In the early history of Western Australia, the office of surveyor general was one of the most important public office ...

while leading a five-man exploration expedition, commemorating Stokes' work on ''Beagle'' surveying the Western Australian coast.

Notes

References

;Bibliography * * Laughton, J. K., Stokes, John Lort (1812–1885), ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004 * *

External links

* *
Lort Stokes collection of maps relating to Australia and the Pacific Ocean
at the National Library of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, John Lort 1811 births 1885 deaths Explorers of Australia Explorers of Western Australia Explorers of New Zealand Royal Navy admirals English hydrographers People from Haverfordwest