Person
Vancouver, George (1757 - 1798)
- Born
- 22 June 1757
King's Lynn, Norfolk, England - Died
- 18 May 1798
Petersham, Surrey, England - Occupation
- Hydrographer and Naval officer
Summary
George Vancouver was a naval officer and hydrographer best known for his explorations in the northeast Pacific Ocean. He joined the Royal Navy in 1771 and, as a midshipman, sailed in H.M.S. Resolution for James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific and in H.M.S. Discovery for the third voyage. Between 1781 and 1789 Vancouver was stationed in the Caribbean Sea on survey work. In 1791 he was appointed to command H.M.S. Discovery (not the same ship) on an expedition to survey along the northwest coast of North America. Discovery was accompanied by the armed tender H.M.S. Chatham. Archibald Menzies was surgeon and naturalist in Discovery. The ships reached the southwest of Western Australia in September and charted the south coast as far as the eastern end of the Archipelago of the Recherche. Vancouver reported on the terrain, fauna, flora and indigenous people that they encountered. Discoveries included King George Sound, and the plants collected by Menzies proved to include some significant specimens. The expedition proceeded to New Zealand and across the Pacific Ocean to continue with the main purpose of the voyage. At the conclusion of the voyage in September 1795 Vancouver retired, spending the next three years preparing his journal and charts of the expedition for publication.
Details
Chronology
- 1771
- Career event - Entered the Royal Navy as a "young gentleman" (a future candidate for Midshipman)
- July 1772 - July 1775
- Career position - Midshipman, H.M.S. Resolution for James Cook's second voyage
- July 1776 - October 1780
- Career position - Midshipman, H.M.S. Discovery for James Cook's third voyage
- 1780
- Career event - Promoted to Lieutenant
- 1781 - 1789
- Career event - Stationed in the Caribbean Sea
- 1790
- Career event - Promoted to Commander
- April 1791 - September 1795
- Career position - Commander, H.M.S. Discovery for surveying voyage in northwest Pacific Ocean
- 1794
- Career event - Promoted to Post captain
- 1795
- Life event - Retired
Related entries
Archival resources
Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales
- Archibald Menzies - Records, 1790 - 1794, FM 4/16; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
Powerhouse Museum
- Joseph Banks - Records, 1766 - 1820, ML MSS 2144; Powerhouse Museum. Details
Published resources
Books
- Anderson, Bern, Surveyor of the Sea. The Life and Voyages of Captain George Vancouver (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1960). Details
- Godwin, George, Vancouver: a Life, 1757-1798 (London: Philip Allan, 1930), 308 pp. Details
- Olsen, Penny, Upside Down World: Early European Impressions of Australia's Curious Animals (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2010), 258 pp. Details
- Williams, Glyn, Naturalists at Sea: Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin (New Haven, Connecticut/London: Yale University Press, 2013), 309 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Phillips, Nan, 'Vancouver, George (1757-1798), naval officer and hydrographer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 2: 1788 - 1850 I-Z, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1967), pp. 550-552. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/vancouver-george-2755. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q205485. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/73975823. Details
- 'Vancouver, George (1757-1798)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1001742. Details
McCarthy, G.J. and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 26 May 2026
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education