author
John Lort Stokes
1811–1885
A Royal Navy officer and surveyor, he spent nearly two decades aboard HMS Beagle and helped chart the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. He later turned those voyages into vivid travel writing that captured both the hardships and the discoveries of nineteenth-century exploration.
2 Audiobooks
About the author
Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, John Lort Stokes joined the Royal Navy as a boy and soon became closely linked with HMS Beagle. He served on the ship for many years, including surveying work in South America and later in Australian waters, and rose through the ranks from midshipman to commander.
Stokes is especially remembered for leading important hydrographic surveys around Australia. During the Beagle's work along the northern and western coasts, he helped map shorelines, rivers, and harbors, and the river now known as the Adelaide River was among the places associated with his expeditions. His surveying career later extended to New Zealand and other naval commands.
He also wrote about his experiences in the two-volume Discoveries in Australia (1846), which remains a valuable firsthand account of exploration, navigation, and colonial-era sea travel. By the end of his naval career he had reached flag rank, and he died in 1885.