Robert FitzRoy

Robert Fitzroy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was a British seaman, admiral, meteorologist and hydrographer. He was the captain of HMS Beagle in the voyage of the English naturalist Charles Darwin.
He was Governor of New Zealand from 1843 to 1845.
In 1851, FitzRoy was elected to the Royal Society.
In 1854, on the recommendation of Vice Admiral Francis Beaufort and the President of the Royal Society, FitzRoy was appointed as chief of a new department to deal with the collection of weather data at sea, with the title of "Meteorological Statist to the Board of Trade" and a staff of three. This was the forerunner of the modern Meteorological Office.