of a family of four daughters and three sons born to Samuel Tertius Galton (1783–1844), banker, and his wife Frances Anne Vloletta (1783–1874), daughter by a second marriage of Dr. Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) [q. v.], the philosophical poet and man of science. The Galtons were members of the Society of Friends, and many of them were men of ability, amassing considerable fortunes as gunsmiths and bankers. Through his mother he was also related to men and women of mark.
After education at several small schools he was sent for two years (1836-8) to King Edward's School at Birmingham, but did not profit much from the classical curriculum in use there. Being intended for the medical profession, after preliminary apprenticeships to medical men at Birmingham, he studied for a year (1839-40) at the medical school of King's College, London. In 1840 he made a rapid tour to Vienna, Constantinople, and Smyrna; and at Michaelmas 1840 entered at Trinity College, Cambridge. He there made friendships with many notable men and read mathematics under WilUam Hopkins (1793-1866) [q. v.], but illness prevented him from pursuing his course, and he took a 'poll' degree in 1844.
In 1844 his father died, and he found himself with means sufficiently ample to allow him to abandon the proposed medical career. He accordingly made a somewhat adventurous journey up the Nile to Khartum and afterwards in Syria. On his return he devoted himself from 1845 to 1850 to sport, but as this did not satisfy his ambition he determined to make a voyage of exploration at his own expense. Damaraland in south-west equatorial Africa (now German territory), then quite unknown to the civilised world, was fixed on as the scene of his exploration. Landing at Walfish Bay, he penetrated far into the interior amid many dangers and hardships, and on his return he published an interesting account of his journey entitled 'Tropical South Africa' (1853 ; 2nd edit. 1889).
This journey made him well known as an explorer, and from this time he played an important part on the council of the Royal Geographical Society, only retiring when deafness impeded his usefulness at their deliberations. In 1856 he was elected F.R.S., and frequently served on the council of the Royal Society.
As a result of his African journey he wrote a useful book, 'The Art of Travel' (1855; latest edit. 1872, and latest reprint 1893), describing artifices of use to travellers—a valuable vade-mecum for explorers. After his return from Africa, although he travelled extensively in Europe and became a member of the Alpine Club, he undertook no further exploration, because his health had suffered much from the hardships he had endured.
Galton took an active part in the administration of science. From 1863 to 1867 he was general secretary of the British Association; he was four times a sectional president, and twice declined the presidency. In 1863 he published 'Meteorographica, or Methods of Mapping the Weather.' In this work he pointed out the importance of 'anticyclones' (a word introduced by him), in which the air circulates clockwise (in the northern hemisphere) round a centre of high barometric pressure. This completed the basis of the system of weather forecasting now in operation throughout the civilised world. He also made other considerable contributions to meteorology. This work led to his membership from 1868 to 1900 of the meteorological committee and of the subsequent council, the governing body of the Meteorological Office. He had also previously been connected with Kew Observatory, an institution initiated by General Sir Edward Sabine (1788-1883) [q. v.] for magnetic and meteorological observations. He was a member of the Kew committee of the Royal Society from soon after its foundation, and was chairman from 1889 to 1901.
Meteorology did not nearly suffice to occupy Galton's active mind; already in 1865 he was occupied with those researches into the laws of heredity with which his name will always be associated. In the course of these investigations he was led to perceive the deficiency of tabulated data as to human attributes. He therefore initiated an anthropometric laboratory in connection with the International Health Exhibition of 1884-6, for the purpose of collecting statistics as to the acuteness of the senses, the strength, height, and dimensions of large numbers of people. He devised the apparatus and organised the laboratory himself. When the exhibition was closed the laboratory was moved elsewhere, and it was the forerunner of the biometric laboratory at University College, London.
Among the data collected in this way were impressions of fingers, and Galton thought they might be used for identification. Sir William Herschel had previously wished to use the method in India, and Dr. Faulds had made a similar suggestion in England.
