DesBarres Statue - Sydney, Nova Scotia - Dead Poets' Society Memorials on Waymarking.com

Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres (22 November 1721 or April–May 1729 – 24 or 27 October 1824) was a Canadian cartographer who served in the Seven Years' War, as the aide-de-camp to General James Wolfe. He later went on to serve as the Lieutenant-Governor of Cape Breton and later as Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island.

DesBarres also created the monumental four volume Atlantic Neptune, which was the most important collection of maps, charts and views of North America published in the eighteenth century. Colonel DesBarres is buried with his wife in the crypt of St. George's (Round) Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Atlantic Neptune

DesBarres made many maps of the Atlantic, mapping the coast of North American from Newfoundland to New York. His survey of the coast of Nova Scotia took approximately ten years due its length and intricacy. DesBarres was exasperated with the work, stating "There is scarcely any known shore so much intersected with Bays, Harbours, and Creeks as this is" "and the Offing of it is so full of Islands, Rocks, and Shoals as are almost innumerable." The survey work was carried out in the summer and in the winter he would retire to Castle Frederick to complete his charts and drawings. His most notable work is the Atlantic Neptune. In 1774 under direction for the British Admiralty, DesBarres compiled and edited his and many others' charts and maps of eastern North America. The completed work was published in 1777, having cost the Admiralty an estimated £100,000.

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