Lort Stokes served for many years on the ‘Beagle’, including the period when Charles Darwin was naturalist on board, 1831–1836. In 1841 he succeeded to the command and spent two years engaged in surveys of Timor and New Zealand. On his return he wrote ‘Discoveries in Australia: with an account of the coasts and rivers explored and surveyed during the voyage of HMS Beagle in the years 1837-43’. In 1847 he was appointed to the steam vessel ‘Acheron’ in which for the next four years he surveyed the coast of New Zealand.

Stephen Pearce exhibited a large number of portraits of naval officers at the Royal Academy, including this portrait of Lort Stokes in 1879. In 1851 he completed ‘The Arctic Council discussing the plan of search for Sir John Franklin’ (National Portrait Gallery) which depicts the officials, naval officers and other explorers most active in that endeavour, though 'Arctic Council' was only an informal name for the group..