Fitzroy-what do you know

[franksingleton]

Without Googling it what do you know about Fitzroy?-admit until several years ago my answer would have been very little.

First head (Secretary – as in Permanent Secretary,) of the Met Office, then the Met Department of the Board of Trade.

Invented the word "forecast."

Initiated gale cones. Remember them? And storm cylinders - before any of our times.

Started routine collection of weather messages using the electric telegraph. Tried at the 1851 great Exhibition.

Committed suicide. Not clear how much due to criticism of forecasts, how much was because he had guilt complex because of association with Darwin.

Sea area named Fitzroy because there was confusion between Spanish/French area Finisterre and UK area. All sea areas in a METAREA should be the same regardless of country supplying forecasts (eg N Sea, Baltic, and Med.). There was no obvious geographical feature so the UK broke with tradition.

Designed a barometer.

Wrote down list of forecast "rules," relating wind and pressure change.

Invented the idea of 5 figure number code for weather messages.

A very good seaman. Ahead of his time in meteorology. Perhaps too far but he exemplified the fact that no forecast system works until you actually do it for real. Even then .........

There must be some more.

 

[Grumpybear]

A perfectionist who spent almost the whole of his life after the return of the Beagle personally making the fair copies of every chart from his voyage.

may have killed himself because he was skint for the nth time - not least because he bought a number of small vessels to extend the range of his surveying in S America, in the naive expectation that the Admiralty would reimburse him.

 

[ffiill]

And Port Fitzroy is a stunning harbour on Great Barrier Island off the NZ coast - to plan to sail this weekend (weather permitting)!

How is the weather?When my wife flew out of Kerikeri two weeks ago it was on the back end of a tropical storm-my daughter had the power off for two days in the Hokianga.

 

[ffiill]

Fitzroy is a settlement on East Falkland. It was off this settlement that the RFAs Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram were hit during the Falklands War.

Yes he was involved in getting the Falklands back in 1830s after a bunch of Argentinian killed the British Missionaries there.(things dont change)
As for the Sir Galahad the officer commanding shore based missle defence battery clearly advised the Disembarkation Officer what would happen if he hung around late afernoon!
No suprise then when his ship was blown up!