Samuel Wallis

English explorer and naval officer. From 1766 to 1768 he made a circumnavigation of the globe in HMS Dolphin. He was the first European to discover Tahiti (1767), and the Wallis Is were named after him.

Samuel Wallis (c.

Wallis was born near Camelford, Cornwall. In 1766 he was given the command of HMS Dolphin to circumnavigate the world, accompanied by the Swallow under the command of Philip Carteret. The two ships were parted shortly after sailing through the Strait of Magellan, Wallis continuing to Tahiti, which he named King George the Third's Island in honour of the King. He was able to pass on useful information to James Cook who was due to depart shortly for the Pacific, and some of the crew from the Dolphin sailed with Cook.

In 1780 Wallis was appointed Commissioner of the Admiralty.

The Polynesian archipelago of Wallis and Futuna (now a French overseas collectivity) is named in his honour.