Monday 19th January 2026

The Voyages of HMS Beagle
With Capt Robert FitzRoy and Charles Darwin
Dr James Taylor
 

Robert FitzRoy commanded HMS Beagle on two voyages and for the second (the primary focus of this talk) he selected Charles Darwin as his naturalist and gentleman companion that led to the collection of evidence for the publication On the Origin of Species. FitzRoy paid for two artists, Augustus Earle and Conrad Martens, to paint the people and places encountered, and these images underpin the seafaring stories. 2026 marks the 200th anniversary of the first voyage. 
 

Dr James Taylor

James was a curator at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, specialising in paintings, drawings and prints and he co-ordinated various exhibitions in the museum. He has published several books including illustrated histories of Marine Painting, Yachts on Canvas, The Voyage of the Beagle, Careless Talk Costs Lives, The Secret History of the Propaganda Poster, Disguise and Disruption in War and Art, Sir Joseph Banks and the Shipboard Artists of Cook and Flinders. James's PhD at the University of Sussex was on the voyager artist William Westall (1781-1850) who sailed with Commander Matthew Flinders aboard HMS 'Investigator' (1801-1803) the first ship to circumnavigate Australia.

​