Son of Lord Charles Fitzroy and Lady Frances Stuart, Fitzroy enrolled at the Royal Naval College at thirteen. A fundamental Christian he was also open-minded, intelligent and fair, though he had a foul temper. He married Maria O’Brien in 1836 and they had four children.
He was promoted to captain of the Beagle in 1831 after a successful mission surveying South America. Sent to circumnavigate the globe he requested an able scientist to accompany him and chart any discoveries; Charles Darwin was assigned. They collaborated in 1839 on the Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of HMS Adventure and Beagle, winning Fitzroy many awards. A disastrous spell as Governor of New Zealand ended after he refused to side with the settlers against the Maoris. Retiring from active service in 1850 he was attached to the new meteorological department of the Board of Trade in 1854, rising to director in 1855. His successes include: using British ships to collect weather data; setting up stations around the country connected by telegraph poles to improve data collection; creating weather charts. He used this to issue gale warnings to shipping and the first ever weather reports to the press. Despite saving many lives they were blocked by the Board.
After returning from New Zealand Fitzroy settled in Onslow Square, where he masterminded the creation of England’s first meteorological department. After the Board’s bizarre decision to block his reports, Fitzroy fell into depression, committing suicide in 1865. In 2002 a region off Spain was renamed Fitzroy in his honour.