Henry Forrester sailed on Cook’s Third Voyage in Discovery under Captain Charles Clerke.  Forrester joined the ship on 29 May, 1776, as an able-bodied seaman (AB).  The muster lists him as coming from London and being 19 years old.

On 25 August, 1779, he became a midshipman.  He was one of several men from Cook’s Third Voyage who followed James King after the voyage, accompanying him to HMS Crocodile,1 and then, in late 1781, to Resistance.  Forrester never became a lieutenant.  

Also on board Discovery was George Dixon as armourer.  Five years after the Discovery voyage, Dixon was appointed captain of Queen Charlotte for a sea otter expedition to the Northwest coast of America in 1785.2  A Henry Forrester accompanied Dixon as steward.  Forrester Island, just north of the Queen Charlotte Islands, was named for him.  It is probable, but not certain, that he was the same Henry Forrester.

A Henry Forrester was baptised on 5 September, 1755, at St. George the Martyr, Queen Square, London, the son of Charles and Mary Forrester.  No other information has been found for him.

John Robson

References

1.Cook’s Log, page 13, vol. 30, no. 1 (2007).

2.Cook’s Log, page 15, vol. 33, no. 2 (2010). 

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 52, volume 39, number 3 (2016).