Who was the captain of HMS Beagle during Darwin's voyage?

Robert FitzRoy was captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin’s famous second voyage. The expedition left England in December 1831 and returned in October 1836 after surveying coastlines and circling the globe.

FitzRoy was a Royal Navy officer and hydrographer responsible for the voyage’s surveying work. He invited Darwin to join the ship as a gentleman naturalist, giving Darwin the opportunity to study geology, fossils, plants, and animals during long periods ashore. FitzRoy also gave Darwin the first volume of Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology before departure.

James Cook is a common distractor because he commanded several earlier Pacific voyages, while Philip Parker King commanded the Beagle’s first survey voyage. John Lort Stokes later served with the Beagle and eventually commanded it, but he was not its captain during Darwin’s expedition. FitzRoy later became a Member of Parliament and the first head of Britain’s Meteorological Department.