Last issue’s Father of Forecast piece charting the life of Robert FitzRoy certainly caught the imagination – here are just some of the many letters and emails we received …

'A FANTASTIC READ'
I'm currently reading the book This Thing of Darkness, written by Harry Thompson, which describes very vividly the journeys that FitzRoy undertook with Darwin on the Beagle … it really is a fantastic read and your article only makes it all the more worthwhile. John Maxwell I was very interested to read the article about Robert FitzRoy, an unsung hero and a man decades ahead of his time. There is a phenomenally good book called This Thing of Darkness … a fictionalised account of the famous voyage and the relationship between FitzRoy and Darwin, and was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. The title refers to his fight with depression and is a line from Prospero in The Tempest. You may like to recommend this to your readers. Joy Allan Thanks John and Joy – a review of This Thing of Darkness appeared in the Lifeboat back in 2006 and we agree it’s great read. If readers order it via RNLI.org/amazon, Amazon will donate 5% of the value to the RNLI

'I COMMANDED BEAGLE'
I thought you might be interested to know that the RNLI has another ex-Commanding Officer of HMS Beagle – an education volunteer. Obviously my Beagle is not FitzRoy’s! But the Royal Navy has a tradition of using old names for new ships. FitzRoy’s Beagle was the third. Mine was the ninth to bear the name and was one of four Bulldog class coastal surveying vessels. She was built at Lowestoft and launched in 1967. She was paid off in 2002 after 35 years’ service, and was the first Beagle built specifically for hydrographic surveying. I commanded Beagle for 2 years, during which we surveyed a huge swathe of the Celtic Sea, an area off Porthcawl, and Rosia Bay in Gibraltar, thus continuing the enormous task of keeping the seas and oceans for mariners to navigate safely. In that time we were involved in two search and rescue operations. During one we worked with an RNLI lifeboat from the Republic of Ireland in an unsuccessful search for the crew of a French fishing boat. After 26 years in the Royal Navy and 16 years working in the property industry, I am now winding down to full retirement and spend as much time as I can working as an education volunteer. I am about to give two lectures to a St John Ambulance group. I am really looking forward to these as I feel it is important that we spread our message far and wide. John Partington Surrey

‘ AN EXTRAORDINARY CAREER’
I wanted to say how much I enjoyed the article. I had heard of him, naturally, but I hadn't appreciated just what an extraordinary career he'd had and how great his achievements were, especially considering he appeared to have suffered serious mental health issues during his life. I found his story inspiring and moving – thank you for drawing attention to the life of this remarkable man.
Robert Pallant

'STILL TRYING TO FIND OUT WHY' …I thought I would send you a picture of a stormglass that I own. You will notice that there is what looks like the London Transport symbol, used as part of all the Underground station signs – also the Plimsoll mark. I am still trying to find out why.
Lewis Hobbs

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