George Frederick Mecham (14 November 1827 – 17 February 1858) was an Irish naval officer and explorer who participated in the search for

Franklin's lost 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 ...

Life

George Frederick Mecham was born in 1827 at Cove of Cork, Ireland. He joined the

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 ...

in 1841 and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 8 March 1849. As a lieutenant he served from 1850 to 1852 in under

Erasmus Ommanney Sir Erasmus Ommanney (22 May 1814 – 21 December 1904) was a Royal Navy officer and an Arctic explorer of the Victorian era. Early life He was born in London in 1814, the seventh son in a family of eight sons and three daughters of Sir F ...

and from 1852 to 1854 in under

Henry Kellett Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, (2 November 1806 – 1 March 1875) was an Irish naval officer and explorer. Career Born at Clonacody in Tipperary County, Ireland, on 2 November 1806, Kellett joined the Royal Navy in 1822. He spent three years ...

, both of whom were searching for the lost expedition 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 Canadian Arctic and thro ...

. Mecham was the first European to discover Prince Patrick and Eglinton Islands in 1853, both of which he charted in the spring of that year. He was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

on 21 October 1854 and commanded the paddle sloop on the west coast of Africa from 1855 to 1857, and the paddle sloop in the Pacific from 1857. Mecham died of bronchitis on 17 February 1858 at

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mecham, George 19th-century Royal Navy personnel 1827 births 1858 deaths Explorers of Canada Irish explorers of the Arctic People from Cobh Royal Navy officers Deaths from bronchitis Military personnel from County Cork Irish officers in the Royal Navy 19th-century Irish explorers