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Richard Walter
d. 1785
An 18th-century clergyman and travel writer, he is best known for the hugely popular account of George Anson’s voyage around the world. His name is tied to one of the era’s great sea stories, though scholars have long debated how much of the book he actually wrote.
1 Audiobook
Anson's Voyage Round the World
by Richard Walter
About the author
Ordained in the Church of England, Richard Walter served as chaplain aboard HMS Centurion during Commodore George Anson’s circumnavigation in the 1740s. He later became known to a wide readership through A Voyage Round the World, the bestselling narrative based on that expedition.
The book helped shape how British readers imagined long naval voyages, shipboard hardship, and encounters across the Pacific. Although Walter was the published author, historians have often discussed the role of others in preparing the final text, which makes his place in literary and naval history especially interesting.
Walter died in 1785. Even so, his reputation rests less on church office than on a vivid travel narrative that kept Anson’s voyage alive for generations of readers.