(1812 - 1885)

John Stokes was the second son of Henry Stokes. It is thought that Henry Stokes may have been a business man, which at that time was not perceived to be a respectable position to hold, and certainly not respectable enough for his son to enter the Royal Navy as an officer. And yet this is exactly what John did, joining the navy as a first class volunteer at the tender age of 12.

One year after this he became midshipman on the HMS Beagle. He spent a remarkable 18 years with her, eventually becoming her commander in the last two years. During this time he was engaged in survey work. In the early 1830s he was mate and assistant surveyor on a trip to South America. This was of course the renowned trip with Charles Darwin, a time during which he gained much of the inspiration for his theories.

Later that same decade, the Beagle was commissioned to finish the work which P.P. King had started in surveying the north coast of Australia. The quest was still to see if there were any rivers which would lead a way into the previously unexplored interior.

Stokes started the journey as lieutenant and assistant surveyor. The commander of the ship when it began this trip was John Clements, but he became ill and was forced to retire, leaving the way for Stokes to become the commander. He was still only 33 years of age.

In 1843 he finally left the services of the ship, having completed the task of surveying. The year 1846 saw him gain the promotion of Captain, and he left to survey the coast of New Zealand. He returned, and for the most part of the 1850s he remained at his estate, Scotchwell.

He then completed his final piece of surveying, working on the Devon coast. In 1864 he became Rear-Admiral, in 1871 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral and by 1877 he made it to the impressive rank of Admiral. In 1885 he died at his estate. He was without doubt one of the best naval surveyors of his time. Indeed, quite a lot of his work was used in charts for a very long time after his death.

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