Henry Roberts

Henry Roberts (1756–1796) was a Royal Navy officer from Shoreham, Sussex, who served with Captain James Cook on his second and third voyages. As a lieutenant aboard HMS Discovery, he was entrusted with hydrographic and cartographic work and later helped compile the detailed charts used in Cook’s posthumous atlas. He also served on HMS Resolution, where he was noted for producing a painting of the vessel. During these voyages he became acquainted with fellow officer George Vancouver, then a midshipman.

In 1790, Roberts was appointed to command the newly built HMS Discovery on a planned circumnavigation and chose Vancouver as his first lieutenant. The expedition was canceled due to the Nootka Crisis, and the eventual voyage was later led by Vancouver. Roberts went on to command HMS Undaunted in the West Indies, where he died of yellow fever on 25 August 1796 at the age of forty. His contribution to Cook’s charts left a lasting mark on naval cartography, and Vancouver honored his memory by naming Point Roberts after him.