Rear AdmiralJohn Moresby (15 March 1830 – 12 July 1922) was a British naval officer who explored the coast of New Guinea and was the first European to discover the site of Port Moresby.
On 23 January 1871, he was appointed to the command of the 1,031 ton paddle steamercruiserHMS Basilisk,[2] in which he made hydrological surveys around eastern New Guinea.[3] During the survey of the southern coast he discovered the harbour which he named Fairfax after his father. The town established there, based on already existing native villages (principally Hanuabada) was named Port Moresby and is now the nation's capital.[4][5]
Moresby was also searching for a shorter route between Australia and China and on the eastern tip of the island he discovered the China Strait. He continued exploring along the north west coast as far as the Huon Gulf.
Basilisk, under the command of Moresby, visited the Ellice Islands in July 1872.[6][7]
Elizabeth Louisa Moresby (1862 – 3 January 1931), became a well-known writer under a variety of pseudonyms, married Edward Western Hodgkinson and Ralph Coker Adams Beck
Two Admirals, Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Fairfax Moresby (1786–1877), and His Son, John Moresby. A Record of Life and Service in the British Navy for a Hundred Years, John Moresby, Murray, London 1909
^The Navy List. London: Printed by W. Clowes & Sons for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, published by John Murray. 20 December 1872 [1873]. pages 135 and 136.
^"New Guinea". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 14 October 1873. From the Melbourne Australia Argus July 15. While making these explorations Captain Moresby discovered several fine harbors, two of which were named by him Ports Moresby and Fairfax.
^Beale, Howard (2006). "John Moresby (1830–1922)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
^W.F. Newton (1967). The Early Population of the Ellice Islands. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 197–204.
^Strannack, Lt. Commander Ian (27 December 1990). The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795–1975. The Bermuda Maritime Museum, The Keep, Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda (P.O. Box MA 133, Mangrove Bay, Bermuda MA BX): The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press. ISBN0-921560-03-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)