Robert McClure
Encyclopedia
Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure (or M'Clure) (28 January 1807 – 17 October 1873) was an Irish
explorer of the Arctic
.
In 1854, he was the first to transit the Northwest Passage
(by boat and sledge), as well as the first to circumnavigate the Americas.
, in Ireland
, the posthumous son of one of Abercrombie
's captains, and spent his childhood under the care of his godfather, General Le Mesurier
, governor of Alderney
, by whom he was educated for the army. He entered the navy, however, in 1824, and twelve years later gained his first experience of Arctic exploration as mate of HMS Terror
in the expedition (1836–1837) commanded by Captain (afterwards Sir) George Back
.
On his return he obtained his commission as lieutenant
, and from 1838 to 1839 served on the Canadian lakes, being subsequently attached to the North American and West Indian naval stations, where he remained till 1846. Two years later he joined the Franklin search expedition
(1848–1849) under James Clark Ross
as first lieutenant of Enterprise
.
commanding the Enterprise
and McClure, as his subordinate, given the command of Investigator
. The two ships set out from England, sailed south on the Atlantic, and rounded Cape Horn, where they became separated and had no further contact for the rest of their respective journeys.
The Investigator sailed north through the Pacific and entered the Arctic Ocean by way of Bering Strait
, and sailing eastward past Point Barrow
, Alaska
to eventually link up with another British expedition from the north-west. Although the Investigator was abandoned to the pack ice in the spring of 1853, McClure and his crew were rescued by a party from the HMS Resolute (one of the ships under the command of Sir Edward Belcher
that were sailing from the East) after a journey over the ice by sledge. Subsequently he completed his journey across the Northwest Passage
. Resolute itself did not make it out of the Arctic that year; it was abandoned in ice, but later recovered. The wood from that ship
became quite famous later.
Thus, McClure and his crew were the first both to circumnavigate the Americas, and to transit the Northwest Passage - considerable feats at that time. The Enterprise, meanwhile, having arrived at Point Barrow in 1850 a fortnight later than the Investigator, had found its passage blocked by winter ice and had had to turn back and return the following year; it conducted its own Arctic explorations, but credit for the Northwest Passage already belonged to McClure.
On his return to England, in 1854, McClure was court martialed for the loss of the Investigator, but following an honourable acquittal, was knighted and promoted to post-rank, his commission being dated back four years in recognition of his special services. McClure and his crew shared a great monetary reward (for that time) of £10,000 awarded them by the British Parliament. He subsequently was also awarded gold medals by the English and French geographical societies.
McClure's account of this voyage, Discovery of the north-west passage, consists of excerpts of his journals from that time as edited by Captain Sherard Osborn
. As this account significantly glosses over several elements of the cruise which cast McClure in a somewhat unfavourable light, historians generally prefer the straightforward account rendered by the Investigators surgeon, Sir Alexander Armstrong
.
before Canton
in 1858, for which he received a CB in the following year. His latter years were spent in a quiet country life; he attained the rank of rear-admiral in 1867, and of vice-admiral in 1873. He died in that year, and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery
, London.
McClure Strait
was later named after him, as well as the crater McClure
on the Moon
.
On 29 October 2009 a special service of thanksgiving was held in the chapel at the Old Royal Naval College
in Greenwich, to accompany the rededication of the national monument to Sir John Franklin there. The service also included the solemn re-internment of the remains of Lieutenant Henry Thomas Dundas Le Vesconte, the only remains ever repatriated to England, entombed within the monument in 1873. The event brought together members of the international polar community and invited guests included polar travellers, photographers and authors and many descendants of Sir John Franklin and his men and the families of those who went to search for him, including Admiral Sir Francis Leopold McClintock
, Rear Admiral Sir John Ross
and Vice Admiral Sir Robert McClure among many others. This gala event, directed by the Rev Jeremy Frost and polar historian Dr Huw Lewis-Jones
, celebrated the contributions made by the United Kingdom in the charting of the Canadian North and honoured the loss of life in the pursuit of geographical discovery. The Navy was represented by Admiral Nick Wilkinson, prayers were led by the Bishop of Woolwich
and among the readings were eloquent tributes from Duncan Wilson, chief executive of the Greenwich Foundation and H.E. James Wright, the Canadian High Commissioner. At a private drinks reception in the Painted Hall which followed this Arctic service, Chief Marine Archaeologist for Parks Canada
Robert Grenier spoke of his ongoing search for the missing expedition ships. The following day a group of polar authors went to London's Kensal Green Cemetery
to pay their respects to the Arctic explorers buried there. After some difficulty, McClure's gravestone was located. It is hoped that his memorial may be conserved in the future.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
explorer of the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
.
In 1854, he was the first to transit the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
(by boat and sledge), as well as the first to circumnavigate the Americas.
Early life and career
He was born at WexfordWexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
, in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the posthumous son of one of Abercrombie
James Abercrombie (general)
General James Abercrombie or Abercromby was a British Army general and commander-in-chief of forces in North America during the French and Indian War, best known for the disastrous British losses in the 1758 Battle of Carillon.-Early life:Abercrombie was born in Glassaugh, Banffshire, Scotland to...
's captains, and spent his childhood under the care of his godfather, General Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier (Alderney)
John Le Mesurier was the last hereditary governor of Alderney.He resigned his patent to the crown in 1825.Some of his predecessors were also called John Le Mesurier.He was related to Thomas Le Mesurier.-External links:*...
, governor of Alderney
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...
, by whom he was educated for the army. He entered the navy, however, in 1824, and twelve years later gained his first experience of Arctic exploration as mate of HMS Terror
HMS Terror (1813)
HMS Terror was a bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the Royal Navy in the Davy shipyard in Topsham, Devon. The ship, variously listed as being of either 326 or 340 tons, carried two mortars, one and one .-War service:...
in the expedition (1836–1837) commanded by Captain (afterwards Sir) George Back
George Back
Admiral Sir George Back FRS was a British naval officer, explorer of the Canadian Arctic , naturalist and artist.-Career:...
.
On his return he obtained his commission as lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
, and from 1838 to 1839 served on the Canadian lakes, being subsequently attached to the North American and West Indian naval stations, where he remained till 1846. Two years later he joined the Franklin search expedition
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
(1848–1849) under James Clark Ross
James Clark Ross
Sir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...
as first lieutenant of Enterprise
HMS Enterprise (1848)
HMS Enterprise was an Arctic discovery ship laid down as a merchant vessel and purchased in 1848 before launch to search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. She made two Arctic voyages before becoming a coal depot, and was finally sold in 1903...
.
Across the Northwest Passage
After he returned from the first Franklin search expedition, a new search expedition was launched in 1850, with Richard CollinsonRichard Collinson
Sir Richard Collinson was an English naval officer and explorer of the Arctic.He was born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, then part of County Durham...
commanding the Enterprise
HMS Enterprise (1848)
HMS Enterprise was an Arctic discovery ship laid down as a merchant vessel and purchased in 1848 before launch to search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. She made two Arctic voyages before becoming a coal depot, and was finally sold in 1903...
and McClure, as his subordinate, given the command of Investigator
HMS Investigator (1848)
HMS Investigator was a merchant ship purchased in 1848 to search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. She made two voyages to the Arctic and had to be abandoned in 1853 after becoming trapped in the ice. Her wreckage was found in July 2010 on Banks Island, in the Beaufort Sea...
. The two ships set out from England, sailed south on the Atlantic, and rounded Cape Horn, where they became separated and had no further contact for the rest of their respective journeys.
The Investigator sailed north through the Pacific and entered the Arctic Ocean by way of Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
, and sailing eastward past Point Barrow
Point Barrow
Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Barrow. It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
to eventually link up with another British expedition from the north-west. Although the Investigator was abandoned to the pack ice in the spring of 1853, McClure and his crew were rescued by a party from the HMS Resolute (one of the ships under the command of Sir Edward Belcher
Edward Belcher
Admiral Sir Edward Belcher, KCB , was a British naval officer and explorer. He was the great-grandson of Governor Jonathan Belcher. His wife, Diana Jolliffe, was the stepdaughter of Captain Peter Heywood.-Early life:...
that were sailing from the East) after a journey over the ice by sledge. Subsequently he completed his journey across the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. Resolute itself did not make it out of the Arctic that year; it was abandoned in ice, but later recovered. The wood from that ship
Resolute desk
The Resolute desk is a large, nineteenth-century partners' desk often chosen by presidents of the United States for use in the White House Oval Office as the Oval Office desk. It was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 and was built from the timbers of the British...
became quite famous later.
Thus, McClure and his crew were the first both to circumnavigate the Americas, and to transit the Northwest Passage - considerable feats at that time. The Enterprise, meanwhile, having arrived at Point Barrow in 1850 a fortnight later than the Investigator, had found its passage blocked by winter ice and had had to turn back and return the following year; it conducted its own Arctic explorations, but credit for the Northwest Passage already belonged to McClure.
On his return to England, in 1854, McClure was court martialed for the loss of the Investigator, but following an honourable acquittal, was knighted and promoted to post-rank, his commission being dated back four years in recognition of his special services. McClure and his crew shared a great monetary reward (for that time) of £10,000 awarded them by the British Parliament. He subsequently was also awarded gold medals by the English and French geographical societies.
McClure's account of this voyage, Discovery of the north-west passage, consists of excerpts of his journals from that time as edited by Captain Sherard Osborn
Sherard Osborn
Sherard Osborn , was a Royal Navy admiral and Arctic explorer.-Early life:Born in Madras, he was the son of an Indian army officer...
. As this account significantly glosses over several elements of the cruise which cast McClure in a somewhat unfavourable light, historians generally prefer the straightforward account rendered by the Investigators surgeon, Sir Alexander Armstrong
Alexander Armstrong (explorer)
Sir Alexander Armstrong KCB , born Donegal, Ireland, was a naval surgeon, explorer, and author who from 1850 to 1854 sailed the Arctic on under the command of Robert McClure in search of the lost expedition of explorer Sir John Franklin...
.
Subsequent career
From 1856 to 1861 he served in Eastern waters, commanding the division of the Naval BrigadeNaval Brigade
A Naval Brigade is a body of sailors serving in a ground combat role to augment land forces.-Royal Navy:Within the Royal Navy, a Naval Brigade is a large temporary detachment of Royal Marines and of seamen from the Royal Navy formed to undertake operations on shore, particularly during the mid- to...
before Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
in 1858, for which he received a CB in the following year. His latter years were spent in a quiet country life; he attained the rank of rear-admiral in 1867, and of vice-admiral in 1873. He died in that year, and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
, London.
McClure Strait
McClure Strait
The M'Clure Strait is a strait on the edge of the Canadian Northwest Territories. It forms the northwestern end of one of the routes through the Northwest Passage. The strait was named for Robert McClure, an Irish Arctic explorer serving in the Royal Navy...
was later named after him, as well as the crater McClure
McClure (crater)
McClure is a small lunar crater. It is located along the western edge of the Mare Fecunditatis, due east of the prominent crater Colombo. To the north of McClure is the similar Crozier, and to the southwest is the larger Cook. The outer rim is nearly circular and not significantly worn. The inner...
on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
.
On 29 October 2009 a special service of thanksgiving was held in the chapel at the Old Royal Naval College
Old Royal Naval College
The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as being of “outstanding universal value” and reckoned to be the “finest and most...
in Greenwich, to accompany the rededication of the national monument to Sir John Franklin there. The service also included the solemn re-internment of the remains of Lieutenant Henry Thomas Dundas Le Vesconte, the only remains ever repatriated to England, entombed within the monument in 1873. The event brought together members of the international polar community and invited guests included polar travellers, photographers and authors and many descendants of Sir John Franklin and his men and the families of those who went to search for him, including Admiral Sir Francis Leopold McClintock
Francis Leopold McClintock
Admiral Sir Francis Leopold McClintock or Francis Leopold M'Clintock KCB, FRS was an Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy who is known for his discoveries in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.-Biography:...
, Rear Admiral Sir John Ross
John Ross (Arctic explorer)
Sir John Ross, CB, was a Scottish rear admiral and Arctic explorer.Ross was the son of the Rev. Andrew Ross, minister of Inch, near Stranraer in Scotland. In 1786, aged only nine, he joined the Royal Navy as an apprentice. He served in the Mediterranean until 1789 and then in the English Channel...
and Vice Admiral Sir Robert McClure among many others. This gala event, directed by the Rev Jeremy Frost and polar historian Dr Huw Lewis-Jones
Huw Lewis-Jones
Huw Lewis-Jones is a British historian, editor, broadcaster and art director. Formerly historian and Curator of Art at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Dr Lewis-Jones left Cambridge in June 2010 to pursue a number of book and broadcasting projects...
, celebrated the contributions made by the United Kingdom in the charting of the Canadian North and honoured the loss of life in the pursuit of geographical discovery. The Navy was represented by Admiral Nick Wilkinson, prayers were led by the Bishop of Woolwich
Bishop of Woolwich
The Bishop of Woolwich is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England....
and among the readings were eloquent tributes from Duncan Wilson, chief executive of the Greenwich Foundation and H.E. James Wright, the Canadian High Commissioner. At a private drinks reception in the Painted Hall which followed this Arctic service, Chief Marine Archaeologist for Parks Canada
Parks Canada
Parks Canada , also known as the Parks Canada Agency , is an agency of the Government of Canada mandated to protect and present nationally significant natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative...
Robert Grenier spoke of his ongoing search for the missing expedition ships. The following day a group of polar authors went to London's Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
to pay their respects to the Arctic explorers buried there. After some difficulty, McClure's gravestone was located. It is hoped that his memorial may be conserved in the future.