Edward Belcher (1799-1877)

Abstract

Prominent in the important but routine survey work undertaken by the British Navy around the globe after the Napoleonic wars, a spectacular failure as an arctic explorer, and most unpopular officer in the fleet, Sir Edward Belcher remains today in relative, perhaps deserved, obscurity. ... In February 1837, he replaced the ailing Captain Beechey on a survey of the Pacific Coast. Taking command at Panama of H.M.S. Sulphur and Starling, he sailed to the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands, thence to Prince William Sound and along the south coasts of Russian America (Alaska), and from there south to San Francisco and again to waters off Central America. In 1839 he retraced the same route. During the two voyages he surveyed many ports and islands, fixed the position of Mount St. Elias, and made the first scientific survey of Nootka Sound, settling questions outstanding since the voyages of Cook and Vancouver. However, these achievements were marred by Belcher's consistent bad temper, caprice, and malice, which made him detested by his officers and men. ... In 1852, in spite of his poor reputation as a commander and his lack of experience handling vessels in ice, Belcher was placed in charge of the largest in the series of expeditions which the British government sent out to seek Sir John Franklin. Five ships were given him for the task: the Assistance (Belcher, and Commander G.N. Richards), the steam tender Pioneer (Osborn), the Resolute (Kellett), the Intrepid (M'Clintock), and the North Star (Pullen). Leaving the North Star at Beechey Island as a base, Belcher sent the Resolute and the Intrepid westward to Melville Island, while he took the Assistance and Pioneer northward up to Wellington Channel. As it turned out, they were too far north to find traces of Franklin, but Belcher and Osborn discovered Belcher Channel, explored the north coast of Bathurst Island, and Belcher himself discovered and visited North Cornwall Island. Belcher and Osborn spent the winter of 1852-1853 in Northumberland Sound, while the Resolute and the Intrepid, under Kellett, wintered at Melville Island. In the course of long sledge expeditions, Kellett and his men completed the exploration of Melville and Prince Patrick islands, and found and rescued the men of a previous expedition on the Investigator (McClure), locked in the ice of Mercy Bay. In the summer of 1853, both divisions failed to extricate themselves, so had to spend a second winter in the ice. By the summer of 1854, Belcher had had enough. Convinced of the impossibility of getting free, unwilling to risk yet a third winter, he disregarded the protests of his subordinates, and ordered the four ships to be abandoned. He and his men made it to the base vessel North Star, and in August set out on the return voyage to England. Court-martialled, Belcher was able to prove that he had acted within his orders. ... He was cleared, but his sword was handed back to him in silence. ... He passed his remaining years in literary and scientific amusements, and died on 18 March 1877.