As the protégé of Francis Beaufort , in 1854 , FitzRoy was appointed , on the recommendation of the President of the Royal Society , as chief of a new department to deal with the collection of weather data at sea . His title was `` Meteorological Statist to the Board of Trade '' , and he had a staff of three .
In 1854 , on the recommendation of Vice Admiral Francis Beaufort and the President of the Royal Society , FitzRoy was appointed as chief of a new department to deal with the collection of weather data at sea , with the title of `` Meteorological Statist to the Board of Trade '' and a staff of three .