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He left the Territory only once during his sojourn and after his marriage his wife accompanied him wherever
the work took him. He died on 20 June 1930 of Brights Disease at the age of 56 years and seven months, survived
by his wife, and was buried in the Gardens Cemetery, Darwin, with Church of England rites.
Northern Standard, 24 June 1930; Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 5 June 1903, 16 March 1904, 1 April 1904, 22 April 1904,
24 June 1930.
HELEN J WILSON, Vol 2.
STOKES, JOHN LORT (1811–1885), naval surveyor and explorer, discovered and named Port Darwin, the
Fitzroy, Flinders and Albert rivers, and shared in the discovery of the Adelaide and Victoria rivers.
Son of Henry Stokes, a landed proprietor, and his wife Anne, nee Phillips, John was born at Scotchwell,
Haverfordwest, in the parish of Prendergast, Wales, on 30 July 1811, and he was baptised in St David’s church on
3 September that year.
Stokes entered the Royal Navy on 20 September 1824 as a First Class Volunteer—a conventional start for a
youth aspiring to commissioned rank—and during the next twelve months he studied mathematics, navigation,
composition, sketching and practical seamanship. On 11 October 1825, he joined HMS Beagle as a midshipman,
prior to her departure with HMS Adventure on a surveying voyage to South America under the command of
Captain Phillip Parker King. Stokes returned to England five years later at the age of 19, tried and matured by
arduous service in the Straits of Magellan, having proved himself a steady and reliable hand in a crisis, and a
zealous and skilful surveyor.
From 1831 to 1836, Stokes served as Mate and Assistant Surveyor on the Beagle’s second expedition to South
America under Commander Robert Fitzroy. His work on this voyage earned him the glowing tribute from Fitzroy:
‘I know not the man I should prefer to him in a professional way—as a surveyor, or in a private capacity as a
staunch and sensible friend... there is far more real anxiety and zeal for the service on which the Beagle and
himself have been eleven years occupied in Mr Stokes than in any other individual who has been employed in
the two expeditions. By far the greatest share of work has been done by him—much by him alone.’ This voyage
is renowned for its association with Charles Darwin, and on it Darwin and Stokes became close friends. Stokes
received his Lieutenant’s commission on 10 January 1837, and on 5 July that year left England on his third voyage
in Beagle—this time to Australia under Commander John Clements Wickham. The purpose of this voyage was
to explore those parts of the coast not examined by Baudin, Flinders and King, and particularly to seek rivers
on the northwest coast that might lead to an inland sea. After reaching Swan River late in 1837, Wickham and
Stokes spent nearly four months exploring the north-west coast—during the course of which the Fitzroy River was
discovered and named by Stokes. The Beagle then returned to Swan River and sailed to Sydney, via Tasmania.
In May 1839 Beagle left Sydney and, sailing north through Torres Strait, visited the infant settlement at
Port Essington. On 7 September 1839, after discovering the Adelaide River and surveying Clarence Strait, Wickham
anchored in Shoal Bay. The next day accompanied by one of the mates, Charles Codrington Forsyth, Stokes left
the ship in a whaler provisioned for four days, sailing westward along an unexplored coast, on 9 September,
he found ‘... a wide bay appearing between two white cliffy heads, and stretching away within to a great distance’.
Stokes had made his greatest discovery. Finding there some talc slate and fine-grained sandstone, he recalled the
geological enthusiasm of his former shipmate, and named the harbour for him—Port Darwin. After exploring its
middle arm for 30 nautical miles, he returned to the ship, which then sailed into Port Darwin and anchored under
a headland that was named Emery Point after her first lieutenant. From 12 to 26 September 1839 Stokes continued
his survey of Port Darwin, making notes on the natives, their language, the local geology, fauna, fish, insects, and
meteoric activity. On 21 October 1839, sailing by moonlight in Beagle’s gig, Wickham and Stokes discovered a
‘noble river’, for which Stokes suggested the name ‘Victoria’. He spent six weeks on the Victoria, piloted Beagle
up to Holdfast Reach, and in temperatures reaching 44° Celsius, explored the river beyond its navigable limit, to
a point 140 nautical miles from the sea. At nearby Point Pearce he was stalked by the Aborigines and received a
severe spear wound.
In March 1841 Beagle’s captain, Wickham, was invalided and returned to England. The command devolved
upon Stokes and gave him the chance of his life. He proceeded to work in Torres Strait and the Gulf of Carpentaria,
where Beagle’s boats explored 200 nautical miles of coastline, and discovered twenty-six inlets or rivers, including
the Flinders and the Albert rivers.
The heart of the continent attracted him like a magnet; from the headwaters of the Albert River he penetrated
to within 400 nautical miles of the geographical centre of Australia, and during his exploration of the Victoria,
he walked alone to within 500 nautical miles of that Mecca. His enthusiasm on these expeditions sometimes
bordered on irresponsibility; he frequently disregarded the dangers of the country, its climate, and its creatures,
and on several occasions, while surveying near the Victoria and Fitzroy rivers, his recklessness nearly cost him his
life or those of his men. At such moments of crisis Stokes supported his deep faith in God with works; when faced
with almost certain death by drowning he ‘breathed a short, but most fervent prayer to Him “in whose hands are
the issues of life and death”, and turned back to cheer my companions with the chance of rescue’.
As an ardent imperialist Stokes believed that England’s opportunities in colonising Australia were great,
as also were her responsibilities. He stood out against popular opinion, championing the cause of the blacks, and
protesting at their treatment by his countrymen, declaring’... we should consider that in entering their country we
incur a great responsibility... at once to establish distinctly the relation in which they stand to the government,
the colonists and the soil!... I must say I regret that that page of history which records our colonisation of Australia
must reach the eyes of posterity.’