Francis Price Blackwood
Naval officer and hydrographer Francis Price Blackwood (1809-1854), second son of Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, entered the navy at the age of twelve and obtained his first commission in August 1828. Appointed to command HMS Hyacinth in 1833, he made his first visit to Australia, collecting and contributing hydrographic data along the north-eastern coast.
He was promoted to captain in 1838 and appointed to command the corvette Fly in the first hydrographic survey commissioned by the Admiralty to explore and chart the north-east Australian coast three years later.
The Fly, with geologist Joseph Beete Jukes and zoologist John MacGillivray, sailed from Falmouth in April 1842, accompanied by Lieutenant Charles Yule in the cutter Bramble. After a stop in Hobart from August to October, the two ships called at Sydney and began the survey in December 1842.
Over the next three years, the Fly charted the Queensland coast from Sandy Cape to Whitsunday Island, including Swain Reefs and Capricorn Islands, marked the outer line of the Barrier Reef from 16° 40' S. to 9° 20' S and erected a beacon on Raine Island, marking the best passage through the Reef towards Torres Strait while the Bramble completed a survey of Endeavour Strait.
After a visit to Surabaya late in 1844, the two ships returned in April 1845 to chart the Great North-East Channel from Bramble Cay to the Endeavour Strait. The expedition moved on to survey New Guinea's south-east coast, charting offshore shoals and the estuaries of several rivers, including the Fly River.
After returning to Sydney via Singapore and the Swan River, the Fly sailed for England in December 1845.
Blackwood’s contributions extended beyond hydrography to detailed sailing directions, many of which remain on modern charts.
Sources:
Ann Mozley, Francis Price Blackwood (1809–1854), Australian Dictionary of Biography https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/blackwood-francis-price-1791
Wikipedia: Francis Price Blackwood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Price_Blackwood
