Edward Adams (24 February 1824 – 12 November 1856) was an English

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer, naval surgeon,

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, artist and Arctic explorer.

Early life and career

Adams was born at Great Barton, near

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

, on 24 February 1824. He became interested in natural history as a child. He qualified as a surgeon in April 1847, and in August of the same year became an assistant surgeon at the

Royal Hospital Haslar The Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, which was also known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, was one of Britain's leading Royal Naval Hospitals (and latterly a tri-service Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), MOD hospital) for over ...

in Gosport, Hampshire, before securing a transfer to the Naval Hospital in Devonport three months later.

Arctic exploration

Ross expedition

In 1848, four months after his transfer to Devonport, he volunteered to join Sir

James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer of both the northern and southern polar regions. In the Arctic, he participated in two expeditions led by his uncle, Sir John Ross, John ...

on his Arctic expedition to search for traces of Sir

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditions into the Northern Canada, Canadia ...

's missing

Northwest Passage expedition Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, and , and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest ...

. Adams was aboard under Captain Edward Joseph Bird. They left in May 1848, but returned 18 months later without success.

Collinson expedition

In January 1850, Adams left on another expedition to look for Franklin. This time he was aboard under Captain Richard Collinson. They reached the

Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...

in August, and Adams was put ashore at St. Michael, just north of the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

delta, to investigate reports of possible survivors from Franklin's crew. He rejoined the ''Enterprise'' in July 1851, sailing east below Banks Island and Victoria Island, and penetrating further east than any ship previously. They returned to England in 1855.

Sierra Leone

Adams passed his full naval surgeon's exams, and travelled to west Africa in May 1856, on board the steamship ''Hecla''. He died there of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

, and was buried at

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. In naming the yellow-billed loon, English zoologist

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoology, zoologist and author, and head of the Ornithology, ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum, London f ...

honoured by Adams naming its species epithet after him: ''Gavia adamsii''.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

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External links

1824 births 1856 deaths Deaths from typhus English naturalists English polar explorers English surgeons British explorers of the Arctic Infectious disease deaths in Sierra Leone Naval surgeons People from the Borough of St Edmundsbury Royal Navy Medical Service officers 19th-century Royal Navy personnel Military personnel from Suffolk {{England-med-bio-stub