A FOUNDER member of North Devon Humanists is presenting an account of the life of Robert Fitzroy, captain on the HMS Beagle made famous by Charles Darwin, in a talk next month.

Keith can be heard at Fremington Parish Hall on Wednesday, May 7 at 7.30.

Many people know of Darwin's voyage in the survey ship HMS Beagle, which led to his publication of The Origin of Species, but far less people know the story of her captain.

Keith Denby, a biochemist and wreck diver, explains: "Fitzroy is not well known, yet he made enormous contributions to our modern world.

"He wanted a companion on board ship because the previous captain had killed himself out of loneliness. At first he was suspicious of Cambridge graduate Charles Darwin because of the shape of his nose.

"Fitzroy sailed for South America to chart the region around Cape Horn and to bring civilising Christianity to the natives.

"Darwin's work eventually opposed the teachings of Genesis, but without Fitzroy's fundamentalist approach to creation, Darwin may never have developed and published his theory."

Humanism is the conviction that we can all lead good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs.