View source for Tobias Furneaux

{{Short description|18th-century English navigator and explorer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name          = Tobias Furneaux
|image         =Captain Tobias Furneaux, RN (1735-1781).jpg
|caption       = Tobias Furneaux by [[James Northcote]]
|birth_date    = 21 August 1735
|death_date    = 18 September 1781 (aged 46)
|birth_place   = Plymouth
|death_place   = 
|placeofburial = Plymouth
|placeofburial_label =
|placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
|nickname      =
|birth_name    =
|allegiance    ={{flagcountry|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
|branch        ={{navy|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
|serviceyears  =
|rank          =[[Captain (naval)|Captain]]
|servicenumber =
|unit          =
|commands      = {{Plainlist|
*{{HMS|Adventure|1771|2}}
*{{HMS|Siren|1773|2}}
}}
|battles       =[[Seven Years' War]]<br>[[American Revolutionary War|American War of Independence]]
|battles_label =
|awards        = 
|relations     = 
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}}
Captain '''Tobias Furneaux''' (21 August 1735{{snd}}18 September 1781) was a British [[navigator]] and [[Royal Navy]] officer, who accompanied [[James Cook]] on his second voyage of exploration. He was one of the first men to [[Circumnavigation|circumnavigate]] the world in both directions, and later commanded a British vessel during the [[American Revolutionary War|American War of Independence]].

== Early life ==
Furneaux was born at Swilly House near [[Stoke Damerel]], Plymouth Dock, son of William Furneaux (1696–1748) of Swilly, and Susanna Wilcocks (1698–1775).<ref name ="Hough228-229">Hough (1995), pages 228-229</ref> He entered the [[Royal Navy]] and was employed on the [[France|French]] and [[Africa]]n coasts and in the [[West Indies]] during the latter part of the [[Seven Years' War]] (1760–1763). He served as second lieutenant of {{HMS|Dolphin|1751|6}} under [[Samuel Wallis|Captain Samuel Wallis]] on the latter's voyage round the globe (August 1766{{snd}}May 1768){{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} and due to Wallis being ill and confined to his cabin, Furneaux was the first European to set foot on [[Tahiti]], hoisting a pennant, turning a turf, and taking possession of the land in the name of His Majesty (25 June 1767).

== Service with Cook ==
In November 1771, Furneaux was given command of HMS {{HMS|Adventure|1771|2}}, which accompanied [[James Cook]] (in {{HMS|Resolution|1771|2}}) on his [[Second voyage of James Cook|second voyage]]. On this expedition Furneaux was twice separated from his leader (8 February 1773 to 19 May 1773; and 22 October 1773 to 14 July 1774, the date of his return to England). On the former occasion he explored a great part of the south and east coasts of [[Van Diemen's Land]] (now [[Tasmania]]), and made the earliest British chart of the island.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Unfortunately he mapped several place names incorrectly. He glimpsed the opening to [[D'Entrecasteaux Channel]] and thought that was [[Storm Bay]]. He thought he had rounded [[Cape Pillar]] and was on the east coast just south of Cape Frederick Hendrik, whereas he had turned left one stop early and was at [[Bruny Island]], where he named [[Adventure Bay, Tasmania|Adventure Bay]] for his ship. The cape to his north he assumed to be Cape Frederick Hendrik, with Frederick Hendrik Bay on the other side of it, so he put both names on his chart.  Off to the north-east, Furneaux could see where [[Maria Island]] should be, but there seemed to be a few extra sights of land, so he changed the name to Maria Isles.<ref>Captain Furneaux's Narrative, with some Account of Van Diemen's Land. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1306441h.html</ref><ref>Sketch of Van Diemen Land, National Library of Australia Map nk-2456-50</ref>

Most of his names here survive; Cook, visiting the shore-line on his third voyage, confirmed Furneaux's account and delineation of it, with certain minor criticisms and emendations, and named after him the [[Furneaux Group]] at the eastern entrance to [[Bass Strait]], and the group now known as the [[Tuamotus|Low Archipelago]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref name=adb>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography
|last= Sprod  |first= Dan |year=2005 |id=AS10174b |title= Furneaux, Tobias (1735–1781)  |access-date=5 May 2008 }}</ref>

After ''Adventure'' was finally separated from ''Resolution'' off [[New Zealand]] in October 1773, Furneaux returned home alone, bringing with him [[Omai]] of Ulaietea (Raiatea).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}  This first South Sea Islander to travel to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] returned to Tahiti with Cook on 12 August 1777.<ref name="Anne">{{cite book|last1=Salmond|first1=Anne|title=Aphrodite's Island|date=2010|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520261143|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/385 385, 419]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/385}}</ref> Also of note is that Furneaux successfully introduced domestic animals and potatoes into the South Sea Islands.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

== Later commands ==
Furneaux was made a captain in 1775.  During the American War of Independence, he commanded [[HMS_Siren_(1773)|HMS ''Syren'']] in the British attack of 28 June 1776 upon [[Charleston, South Carolina]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} ''Syren'', with Furneaux in command, was wrecked near [[Point Judith, Rhode Island]] on 6 November 1777.<ref name=RW>Winfield (2007)</ref>{{#tag:ref|Some sources have 10 November,<ref name="Marx1987">Marx (1987), page 152</ref> but the court martial records and other official documents show 6 November.<ref name=RW/>|group="Note"}}  The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) has published a detailed history of the ''Syren'''s activities in the [[American Revolution|American War of Independence]], as well as some of the original documents related to her loss, confirming 6 November as the correct date.  By 10 November Furneaux and his crew were prisoners in [[Providence, Rhode Island]], awaiting later exchange.  RIMAP has also noted that the ''Syren'' is one of at least five ships associated with Captain Cook and his circumnavigating men with an historical connection to the State of Rhode Island.

== Taxon named in his honor ==
*The '''Furneaux scorpionfish''', '''''[[Scorpaenopsis furneauxi]]''''' is a [[species]] of [[venom]]ous marine [[Actinopterygii|ray-finned fish]] belonging to the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Scorpaenidae]], the scorpionfishes that was named after him.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = http://www.etyfish.org/perciformes9/ | title = Order PERCIFORMES (part 9): Suborder SCORPAENOIDEI: Family SCORPAENIDAE | access-date= 4 February 2023 | author1 = Christopher Scharpf | author2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara | date = 22 September 2018}}</ref>

Furneaux died unmarried in 1781 and was buried in [[Stoke Damerel Church]] in Plymouth where he had been christened.

==See also==
* [[European and American voyages of scientific exploration]]

==Notes==

===Footnotes===
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===References ===
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Furneaux, Tobias|volume=11|page=362}}
*{{cite book |title =Captain James Cook | first =Richard | last =Hough | year =1995 | publisher =Hodder and Stoughton | isbn =9780340825563}}
*{{cite book|title=Shipwrecks in the Americas|last=Marx|first=Robert F.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i0WjWPAvV4YC&pg=PA152|date=1987|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-25514-9}}
*{{cite book |title =British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792 | first =Rif | last =Winfield | year =2007 | publisher =Seaforth Publishing | isbn =9781844157006}}

==External links==
{{wikisource author}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=39057}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Tobias Furneaux}}

{{Polar exploration|state=collapsed}}
{{Captain James Cook|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furneaux, Tobias}}
[[Category:1735 births]]
[[Category:1781 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Plymouth, Devon]]
[[Category:English explorers]]
[[Category:Circumnavigators of the globe]]
[[Category:Explorers of Australia]]
[[Category:English explorers of the Pacific]]
[[Category:Royal Navy captains]]
[[Category:James Cook]]
[[Category:British navigators]]
[[Category:Furneaux Group]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War]]