Vancouver, Captain George, A voyage of discovery to the north Pacific Ocean and Round the world in which the coast of north west America has been carefully examined and accurately surveyed. Undertaken by His Majesty's Command, Principally with a view to ascertain the existence of any navigable communication between the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, and performed in the years 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795 in the Discovery sloop of war and Armed tender Chatham, under the command of Captain George Vancouver. London, 1798. This account in 3 volumes includes the first very detailed description and extraordinary charting of the complex northwest coast of America.
George Vancouver (1757-1798) was an English navigator and hydrographer who joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman aged 13. After nine years service in the West Indies he was commissioned to sail to the Pacific and chart the northwest coast of America and to obtain restitution from the Spanish who had seized two British ships and were threatening the valuable English fur trade that had been established there.
Vancouver's voyage left Falmouth, England on 1 April 1791 in the new sloop Discovery (named after Cook's ship) and accompanied by the armed tender Chatham under Lieutenant William Broughton. Due to the influence of Joseph Banks also on board Discovery was Archibald Menzies, naturalist and surgeon, who was to collect plant specimens and seeds during the voyage. However this was not done with Vancouver's full approval and as a result he and Banks did not have an easy relationship, which may have led to Vancouver's difficulties on his return to England in 1795.
Vancouver sailed via the Cape of Good Hope for New Holland and sighted Cape Leeuwin on 26 September 1791. Continuing eastwards two days later he entered King George Third Sound - the location of present day Albany.
On 11 October he continued sailing east surveying 300 miles of the Great Australian Bight, until, because of prevailing winds, he was unable to continue as he had hoped. He then sailed south of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand to Tahiti and the Sandwich Isles (the Hawaiian group) where he carried out detailed surveys of the coastlines.
Sailing westwards Vancouver sighted the west coast of America 17 April 1792. At Nootka Sound he met the Spaniard Don Juan Quadra and, as instructed by the Admiralty, attempted to negotiate restitution of lands seized by the Spanish from the fur traders in July 1789. However, they could not agree and decided to refer the matter to their respective governments.
Vancouver then carried out detailed surveys of the coastline from the location of present day San Francisco to British Colombia, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. This work being mainly done in open boats due to the complexity of the coastline with its many islands and inlets. He named Vancouver Island (British Columbia), Puget Sound (which stretches for 100 miles in Washington State) and the Gulf of Georgia. He sailed as far north as Cook Inlet off southern Alaska and as far south as San Lius Obispo, California. The result of this survey work were a set of extraordinary charts some of which form part of the RGSSA collection and are included as a treasure.
By December 1794 he had completed this work and turned for home sailing via Cape Horn and St Helena reaching England 20 October 1795 to find he had been promoted to post captain. (only a post captain could command one of the "rated" warships of the Royal Navy - there were six rating levels based on the number of guns on board).
Unfortunately, back in England, he ran into trouble and was challenged to a duel by the influential nobleman Thomas Pitt who he had had to discipline on the voyage. He was victimized by the press and cartoonists of the day and died in obscurity aged 40 in 1798.
RGSSA catalogue rgsp 910.41 V223 (3 Vols.)
Also Plates to Vancouver's Voyages rgsp 910.41 V223 d, Cabinet 3 Shelf 7. (10 charts and 6 coastal profiles)
1. Vancouver, George, edited by W. Kaye Lamb, A Voyage of discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and round the world 1791-1795 , Published by the Hakluyt Society, 1984. (4 Vols.)
2. Australian Dictionary of Biography
George Vancouver was born in 1757 in King's Lynn, Norfolk then a major English port. He joined the Royal Navy as a mid-shipman and boarded Resolution at Deptford Yard 22 January 1772 and sailed in her for three years under Captain James Cook on his second round the world voyage (1772-1775). He also sailed as an able seaman on Cook's third voyage (1776-1780) but on Discovery under Captain Charles Clerke.
In 1780 he was promoted to lieutenant (having served for 8 years, 3 months and 3 weeks at sea) and from 1782-1790 served in the West Indies. He served under Sir Alan Gardner in Jamaica completing his first independent surveys. This survey work was part of the Admiralty's recognition of the need for more accurate charts and the influence of its first hydrographer, Alexander Dalrymple. On returning to England he was promoted to commander and recommended to lead a voyage of exploration to the Pacific.
He completed "one of the most difficult coastal surveys ever undertaken" (Britannica) of the northwest coast of America on his voyage 1791-1795. The result was a set of detailed and beautiful charts of this very complex coastline a number of which also are in the RGSSA collection.
The following is a quotation taken from the Australian Dictionary of Biography-
By 1803 Vancouver was almost forgotten by all except those who used his magnificent charts. In some quarters he had been reputed harsh and difficult, yet he was a dedicated naval officer, hard-working though in poor health, strict and demanding. His concern for the welfare of his crew kept the scurvy rate low in his two cramped ships. As a diplomat he was successful with the Spanish and the natives of the Pacific. His competent hydrography deflated the geographic theorists of the late eighteenth century and his astronomical observations greatly advanced the science of navigation. In these ways he fulfilled his ambition 'to deserve the appellation of being zealous in the service of his king and country.
© The Royal Geographical Society of South Australia