John Lort Stokes

author

John Lort Stokes

1811–1885

A sailor, surveyor, and explorer whose long service on HMS Beagle put him at the center of some of the 19th century’s most famous voyages. He later turned those years of chart-making and coastal discovery into vivid travel writing of his own.

2 Audiobooks

Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2 Discoveries in Australia; with an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in The Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners Of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits To the Islands in the Arafura Sea

Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2 Discoveries in Australia; with an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in The Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners Of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits To the Islands in the Arafura Sea

by John Lort Stokes

Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1. With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea.

Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1. With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea.

by John Lort Stokes

About the author

Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, John Lort Stokes joined the Royal Navy as a boy in 1824 and soon moved to HMS Beagle. He served on the ship for about eighteen years, including the South American surveying voyage best known for carrying Charles Darwin, and rose through the ranks from midshipman to commander.

Stokes became known as a skilled hydrographer and survey officer. He later commanded the Beagle on surveys of Australia and nearby coasts, and his name remains tied to the exploration and mapping of places in Australia and New Zealand.

He also wrote about these expeditions in Discoveries in Australia (1846), a work that blends navigation, exploration, and firsthand observation. For listeners drawn to sea voyages, scientific discovery, and the working life behind famous expeditions, his career offers a fascinating view from the deck rather than the shore.