The noted impresario of interpretations of eighteenth-century Spanish voyages on the north-west coast of North America, Robin Inglis, passed away in Langley, British Columbia on 19 June 2024, aged 82. He will be sadly missed by all who had the pleasure of his company, his compassionate interest in the works of other scholars, his editorial counsel and expertise, and his eagerness to be part of commemorative exhibitions and conferences on British, French and Spanish voyages of exploration. His knowledge of museums at home and abroad made him a principal advisor and advocate of material cultures and ways of displaying them in a world of racial diversity and shifting identity politics.
He was born, to a clergy family, in Newark, Nottinghamshire, and was educated at Cambridge University, where he read history. Coming to Canada in 1965, he taught in school before enrolling in museum studies at the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum. He embarked on a career in museum management and became director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum 1982-1991 and then the North Vancouver Museum and Archives, retiring in 2007. He also served as executive director of the Canadian Museums Association. He achieved national distinction with the Fellows of the Canadian Museums Association, who have established the Robin Inglis Award. The Maritime Museum of British Columbia honoured him with the SS Beaver Medal for Maritime Excellence.
He was a leader at the Malaspina Research Centre, Vancouver Island University. His edited work Spain and the North Pacific Coast: Essays in recognition of the bicentennial of the Malaspina Expedition, 1791–1792 (1992) demonstrated his ability at collaborative projects with many scholars, notably those from the Museo Naval, Madrid. The Hakluyt Society published in three volumes The Malaspina Expedition, 1789-1794 (2001-2004), with Inglis as advisor on matters regarding the north-west coast of America. In a second wave of publications, relating to Alcala Galiano and Caetano Valdes, Inglis was again prominent and received the Alcala Galiano Medal of the Asociacion Cultural Dionisio Alcala-Galiano, Cabra, Cordoba. He was also awarded the Cruz de Merito Naval from the government of Spain.
Inglis was also prominent in James Cook studies. These enriched his connections to his homeland and brought him into international prominence. Inglis curated an exhibit at Anchorage, Alaska, and was a dominant leader in the international congress that resulted in Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage, with a preface by Inglis. This capstone of Cook studies proved to be Inglis’s finest hour and perhaps most permanent achievement. In combining his expertise in museum exhibitions with his abilities as a historian and interpreter of the past in light of present-day preoccupations, this work represented international history on a grand scale with broad public outreach. His Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Northwest Coast of America (2008) remains the standard reference on this complicated subject.