Scottish geographer and hydrographer Alexander Dalrymple (1737-1808) started his career with the East India Company in Madras and spent time in Manila during the British occupation between 1762 and 1764. While there, Dalrymple reputedly found Luis Váez de Torres' account of passage through the strait that came to bear his name.
He found the material in two volumes which had once belonged to the library of Colbert, the French Minister, in a Covent Garden bookseller after his return to London in 1765.
He was the Royal Society's nominee to head the expedition to the South Pacific to observe the transit of Venus in 1769. The position, however, went to James Cook, who went on to debunk the notion of a vast, populous Terra Australis Incognita in the South Pacific.
As that concept's chief proponent, Dalrymple is often portrayed as Cook's bitter opponent. Still, that did not stop an appointment as the Admiralty's first hydrographer in 1795 after a stint in a similar role with the East India Company.
His works included a two-volume Historical Collection of the Several Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, along with numerous pamphlets, thousands of nautical charts produced under his direction and significant contributions to maritime safety.