Samuel Wallis

Memorial to Samuel Wallis and the crew in Truro Cathedral, Cornwall.

Captain Samuel Wallis (23 April 1728 – 21 January 1795) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who made the first recorded visit by a European navigator to Tahiti.

Biography Wallis was born at Fenteroon Farm, near Camelford, Cornwall. He served under John Byron. On 19 October 1746, he became a lieutenant. On 30 June 1756, he was promoted to commander. As was reported in the press, he was also tasked with discovering the Southern Continent. The two ships were parted by a storm shortly after sailing through the Strait of Magellan. In June 1767, the expedition made the first European landfall on Tahiti, which he named "King George the Third's Island" in honour of the King. Wallis himself was ill and remained in his cabin so lieutenant Tobias Furneaux was the first to set foot, hoisting a pennant and turning a turf, taking possession in the name of His Majesty. He described Tahiti as having a very good climate and the island being 'one of the most healthy as well as delightful spots in the world'.

's purser, John Harrison, had the skills necessary to calculate longitude by the Lunar Distance method. This was an early version of the technique, predating the first nautical almanacs which included tables that shortened the calculation process. Consequently, Harrison had lengthy calculations (taking about four hours) to turn each observation into a longitude position. Wallis freely admitted that he did not understand these calculations. Determining the longitude (together with the latitude) of Tahiti meant that the later voyage by James Cook had no difficulty in finding the island. The lunar distance longitude was added to by observation of a solar eclipse which occurred during 's stay, which provided an additional fix. The two longitudes obtained provided a level of precision greater than could be achieved by previous navigators.

Dolphin stayed in Matavai Bay in Tahiti for over a month.