Sir Edward Augustus Inglefield (27 March 1820 – 4 September 1894) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

officer who led one of the searches for the missing

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

explorer

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...

during the 1850s. In doing so, his expedition charted previously unexplored areas along the northern Canadian coastline, including

Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; kl, Avannaata Imaa; french: Baie de Baffin), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arc ...

Smith Sound Smith Sound ( da, Smith Sund; french: Détroit de Smith) is an uninhabited Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada's northernmost island, Ellesmere Island. It links Baffin Bay with Kane Basin and forms part of the Nares Strait. On the ...

and

Lancaster Sound Lancaster Sound () is a body of water in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern entrance to the Parry Channel and the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin Bay ...

. He was also the inventor of the marine hydraulic steering gear and the anchor design that bears his name. bears his name, as do the

Inglefield Land Inglefield Land is an unglaciated area along the northwestern coast of Greenland. It was named after English explorer Edward Augustus Inglefield. History Inglefield Land is noted for its archaeological sites, which show evidence of occupation by ...

region and the

Inglefield Gulf Inglefield Gulf or Inglefield Fjord ( da, Inglefield Bredning; kl, Kangerlussuaq) is a fjord in northwestern Greenland. To the west, the fjord opens into the Baffin Bay. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality. Inglefield Gulf ...

of Greenland.

Career

First voyage to the Arctic

Inglefield set out from Britain on his search in July 1852, commanding Lady Franklin's private steamer , seven years after Sir John Franklin had left on his ill-fated search for the fabled

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...

. Once Inglefield had reached the Arctic, a search and survey of Greenland's west coast was made;

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island ( iu, script=Latn, Umingmak Nuna, lit=land of muskoxen; french: île d'Ellesmere) is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Br ...

was resighted and named in honour of the president of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. Smith Sound was penetrated further than any known records;

Jones Sound Jones Sound is a waterway in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It lies between Devon Island and the southern end of Ellesmere Island. At its northwestern end it is linked by several channels to Norwegian Bay; at its eastern end it opens via Glacier ...

was also searched; and a landing was made at

Beechey Island Beechey Island ( iu, Iluvialuit, script=Latn) is an island located in the Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada, in Wellington Channel. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait. Other features include Wellington ...

in Lancaster Sound. No sign, however, of Franklin's expedition was found. Finally, before the onset of winter forced Inglefield to turn homewards, the expedition searched and charted much of

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

's eastern coast. Despite finding no traces of the Franklin expedition, Inglefield was fêted on his return for the surveying his expedition had achieved. The

awarded him its 1853

Patron's Medal The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promoti ...

"for his enterprising survey of the coasts of Baffin Bay, Smith Sound and Lancaster Sound."

Subsequent Arctic voyages

HMS Isabel, Command of Edward Augustus Inglefield

Inglefield made two further voyages to the Arctic in , to supply the search for the Franklin expedition overseen by Sir

Edward Belcher Admiral Sir Edward Belcher (27 February 1799 – 18 March 1877) was a British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer. Born in Nova Scotia, he was the great-grandson of Jonathan Belcher, who served as a colonial governor of Massachusett ...

. He returned from the first of these in 1853, bringing with him the first officer to have traversed the Northwest Passage,

Samuel Gurney Cresswell Samuel Gurney Cresswell (25 September 1827 – 14 August 1867), was a Royal Navy officer. He was technically the first naval officer to cross the entire Northwest Passage. Robert McClure was in charge of the expedition but Cresswell reached E ...

of . The ''Investigator'' had also been sent to join the search for the Franklin expedition, but starting from the ''western'' side of northern Canada. Arriving back in the Arctic the following year, 1854, Inglefield found Belcher's ships abandoned, save one to which the crews had retreated. Most of these men returned with Inglefield to Britain.

Later life

Soon after his return from the Arctic, Inglefield was sent to join the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

in the Black Sea as captain of HMS ''Firebrand'', where he took part in the siege of Sevastopol. After the Crimean War, he captained a number of ships and continued to rise through the ranks. In 1869, he was made a rear admiral and three years later was appointed Admiral Superintendent of

Malta Dockyard Malta Dockyard was an important naval base in the Grand Harbour in Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. The infrastructure which is still in operation is now operated by Palumbo Shipyards. History Pre-1800 The Knights of Malta established dockyard ...

. Promotions to vice admiral and then admiral followed, between which he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

. In 1878, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station. Inglefield retired in 1885. Thereafter he devoted much of his time to painting and his watercolours of Arctic landscapes were exhibited at several art galleries in London.

Personal life

On 30 April 1857, Inglefield married Eliza Fanny Johnston (1836–1890), the daughter of Edward Johnston, Esq. of

Allerton Hall Allerton Hall is in Clarke's Gardens, Allerton, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. Built in 1736 for the Hardman family, the house has a long history da ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. Together, they were the parents of four sons and one daughter: # Henry Beaufort Willmot Inglefield (1859–1926), who married Mary Lucia MacHugh, Lady Holker in 1894. She was the widow of Sir John Holker (1828–1882). After her death, he married Alexandra Amy Geraldine Butler (d. 1931), the widow of William George Gould (d. 1911) #

Edward Fitzmaurice Inglefield Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Fitzmaurice Inglefield, KBE (1861–1945) was a Victorian Royal Navy officer and later secretary of Lloyd's of London. He gave his name to the Inglefield clip, a device he patented in 1890 for quickly attaching si ...

(1861–1945), a Royal Navy officer (eventually rear admiral), inventor of the flag-raising

Inglefield clip The Inglefield clip (also known as a sister clip and a Brummel hook) is a clip for joining a flag or ensign quickly, easily and securely to flag halyards so that the flag can be hoisted. They are also used for jib sheets on small boats and to conn ...

, and Secretary to

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...

. # Albany Otway Inglefield (1872–1873) # Ernest Hallowell Inglefield (d. 1879) # Sybill Inglefield (d. 1870) Inglefield died in 1894; he is buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

in west London.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* Inglefield, E.A. (1853).''A summer search for Sir John Franklin; with a peep into the polar basin''. London: Thomas-Harrison. * Coleman, E.C. (2006). ''The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration from Franklin to Scott''. Tempus Publishing.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Inglefield, Edward Augustus 1820 births 1894 deaths 19th-century English painters 19th-century English male artists Military personnel from Gloucestershire Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery English male painters English polar explorers Explorers of the Arctic Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows of the Royal Society Edward Augustus Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Landscape artists Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War