Memorial to Samuel Wallis in Truro Cathedral

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Samuel Wallis (23 April 1728 – 21 January 1795) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer and explorer who made the first recorded visit by a European navigator to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

Biography

Wallis was born at Fenteroon Farm, near Camelford,

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. He served under John Byron. In 1757, he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and was given the command of HMS ''Dolphin'' as commander of an expedition accompanied by

Philip Carteret Rear-Admiral Philip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity (22 January 1733 – 21 July 1796) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who participated in two of the British navy's circumnavigation expeditions in 1764–66 and 1766–69. Biography Carte ...

on with an assignment to circumnavigate the globe.Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', p. 248 As was reported in the press, he was also tasked with discovering the Southern Continent. The two ships were parted by a storm shortly after sailing through the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...

. In June 1767, the expedition made the first European landfall on

, which he named " King George the Third's Island" in honour of the King. Wallis himself was ill and remained in his cabin so lieutenant

Tobias Furneaux Captain Tobias Furneaux (21 August 173518 September 1781) was a British navigator and Royal Navy officer, who accompanied James Cook on his second voyage of exploration. He was one of the first men to circumnavigate the world in both direction ...

was the first to set foot, hoisting a pennant and turning a turf, taking possession in the name of His Majesty. He described Tahiti as having a very good climate and the island being 'one of the most healthy as well as delightful spots in the world'.John Hawkesworth, An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, Chapter VIII, p. 313 ''Dolphin'' stayed in Matavai Bay in Tahiti for over a month. Wallis went on to name or rename five more islands in the

Society Islands The Society Islands ( , officially ; ) are an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean that includes the major islands of Tahiti, Mo'orea, Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora and Huahine. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country ...

and six atolls in the

Tuamotu Islands The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to ...

, as well as confirming the locations of Rongerik and

Rongelap Rongelap Atoll ( ; , ) is an uninhabited coral atoll of 61 islands (or motu (geography), motus) in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is . It encloses a lagoon with ...

in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

. He renamed the

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

n island of Uvea as Wallis after himself, before reaching

Tinian Tinian () is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern ...

in the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...

. He continued to Batavia, where many of the crew died from

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

, then via the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

to England, arriving in May 1768. Following his return in England, Wallis was able to pass on useful information to

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

, who was due to depart shortly for the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, and some of the crew from the ''Dolphin'' sailed with Cook. Although Cook carried an official report of Wallis's circumnavigation, it is not known whether the two met prior to Cook's departure in August 1768. In 1780, Wallis was appointed an Extra Commissioner of the Navy.

Notes

References

* Glyndwr Williams, 'Wallis, Samuel (1728–1795)',

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 10 Dec 2007
* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallis, Samuel 1728 births 1795 deaths Royal Navy captains Circumnavigators of the globe British explorers of the Pacific People from Camelford Explorers from Cornwall 18th-century British explorers History of Wallis and Futuna Sailors from Cornwall Military personnel from Cornwall Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War

Biography

See also

Notes

References

External links