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 Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy 

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Captain of HMS Beagle and Pioneer Weather Forecaster

1805 - 1865

Commemorated in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Grafton Regis

Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy was captain of H.M.S. Beagle.  He was joined, on his voyages to South America and beyond, by Charles Darwin, and it was the scientific discoveries he made while on board the Beagle that led to The Origin of the Species. 

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HMS Beagle in the Straits of Magellan at Monte Sarmiento, reproduction of R. T. Pritchett's frontispiece from the 1890 illustrated edition of The Voyage of the Beagle.

Robert FitzRoy was also a remarkable scientist, inventor of a barometer, and pioneer of the science of weather forecasting.  His achievements have been recognised recently in the shipping forecast by the renaming of the area of Finisterre in the Bay of Biscay as FitzRoy. 

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Fitzroy Shipping area renamed from Finisterre in honour of Vice Admiral Robert Fitzroy

The church of St Mary the Virgin in Grafton Regis contains monuments to numerous members of Robert’s family.  It is therefore a highly appropriate setting for the memorial we have recently commissioned to this great man.

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Memorial to Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy in the Church in Grafton Regis

The official unveiling of the memorial took place in the church on Monday 6th June at 2.30pm.  The service sheet is available below. 

If you would like to contribute to the cost of the memorial please make out a cheque to Grafton Regis PCC and send it to the secretary of the PCC at:

The Old Rectory, Grafton Regis, Towcester, Northants NN12 7SS

We will be very grateful for all contributions.

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