Watch author Alan Harper as he recounts the extraordinary life of Royal Navy warrant officer Greenvile Collins, the subject of his book Master & Cartographer.
Collins worked for three successive kings in a long seagoing career in which he voyaged to Patagonia and the Arctic, fought the Dutch in the North Sea and Barbary corsairs in the Mediterranean, and taught navigation and seamanship to the king's son.
Introduced to Charles II by Samuel Pepys, he became the first naval hydrographer to attempt a full survey of British waters, working for seven years to produce his pioneering sea atlas, the Great Britain's Coasting Pilot.
Called once again to the colours, Collins’ 1688 journal sheds intriguing new light on the navy's controversial role during the Glorious Revolution, when he was appointed master of the king’s flagship, HMS Resolution.
This event was originally livestreamed for Royal Museums Greenwich Members on 15 September 2026
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