Alexander Weir was baptised on 10 December, 1732, at Dysart, Fife, the son of David and Margaret (née Buchannan) Weir. Weir was on Cook’s First Voyage for only three months.
He joined Endeavour on 27 May, 1768, as a quartermaster, and drowned at Madeira on 14 September.1 He was dragged down by the buoy-rope and anchor in the harbour.
Weir was already acquainted with Cook, having joined the brig Grenville on 10 March, 1768, as a midshipman. Before he could sail in her he was discharged at Deptford on 18 April, and followed Cook to Endeavour.
His will was proven on 10 August 1771.2 In it, Weir left everything to his wife, Anne, of the parish of St George's in the East in London.
John Robson
References
- Cook’s Log, page 953, vol. 16, no. 3 (1993).
- Cook’s Log, page 16, vol. 35, no. 4 (2012).
- The National Archives (TNA). PROB 11/970.
Originally published in Cook's Log, page 5, volume 38, number 1 (2015).