Interesting Trivia:

• In 1823: His efforts as a naturalist were rewarded by his election as a fellow of the Linnean Society
• Ross was a fine seaman, an authority on magnetism, and a good naturalist and taxidermist
• Discovered and named Matty Island and Cape Felix
• Located the North Magnetic Pole and planted a British flag
• Spent an unprecedented four and a half years in the Arctic
• Was offered a knighthood twice, which, for unknown reasons, he refused the first time
• Discovered Victoria Land, McMurdo Sound, the Ross Sea, and the great Ross Ice Barrier
• Wrote “A voyage of discovery and research in the southern and Antarctic regions during the years 1839–43”
• Was knighted

His Story:

Ross was the nephew of the great sir John Ross, the distinguished Arctic explorer.  As such it was not surprising that, from an early age, his life was influenced by his uncle.  When he was not yet 12 years old, he followed his uncle into the Royal Navy, which was the beginning of a long naval career. His first ship was the “Briseis”. Under his uncle’s protection, he got promoted quickly to midshipman and master’s mate.

For the next 6 years, he served with his uncle and when John Ross took command of the vessels “Actaeon” and, later, the “Driver”, James Clark Ross was with him.

On 11^th December 1817, his uncle was invited by his friend, Sir George Hope, first lord of the Admiralty, to take command of an Arctic expedition to search for a northwest passage from Baffin Bay to Bering Strait. This changed their lives forever and it was the start of a life as a polar explorer.

James Clark Ross was only 18 years old when they sailed from England in April 1818.  There were two ships going on this expedition, the “Isabella” and “Alexander”. Second-in-command was Lieutenant William Edward Parry, captain of the “Alexander”. Their task was to enter Davis Strait, make observations on the currents, and sail north and west as far as the ice would allow. They were able to observe the entrance of Smith Sound and, turning down the western shore of the bay, also saw the entrance of Jones Sound, but both were ice filled and Ross considered them dead ends. They returned home to England by mid November. This had been James’ first expedition and he had taken an active part in the many scientific observations made on this voyage.

In May 1819, James Ross set out again, this time as a midshipman on the ship “Hecla”, one of two ships (the other one was “Gripper”) commanded by William Parry. They went westward, and pushed all the way through Barrow Strait.  Their progress was halted at 112° 51' where they were forced to turn back.  As on his previous journey, James C. Ross was actively involved in making observations and Parry even named one of the promontories of Melville Island Cape James Ross. They went to an anchorage place at Melville Island where they stayed during the winter.  It was Clark’s first overwintering.

When spring came, Ross crossed the Island and did survey work to kill the time until the ships would be free from the ice again.  In the beginning of August, with the ships free, they sailed back to England.  The expedition was a huge success for they had sailed halfway through the Northwest Passage.

There was no stopping Ross now that he had the Arctic bug.  His next expedition was, again with Parry, in 1821. This time they went westward through the Hudson Bay and spent two winters, the first at Winter Island and the second at Igloolik Island near the eastern end of Fury and Hecla Strait (so named after their vessels). Here he collected birds, mammals, marine life, and plants. He also collected the first ever recorded specimen of the beautiful Ross’s Gull. 

Upon returning to England, in the fall of 1823, he found out that he had been promoted to lieutenant during his absence. He had meanwhile become an experienced naturalist.

His third expedition (1824–25), again with the “Fury” and “Hecla” was a disaster. The journey took much longer than anticipated and a sick Parry put a heavy burden on Ross as he had to take over much of Parry’s scientific work.  Meanwhile, he continued his taxidermy, tested the thickness of saltwater ice, recorded temperatures, made magnetic and lunar observations, checked longitudes, and went on land excursions. Unfortunately, after their overwintering, their ship “Fury” ran aground and with Perry not willing to spend another winter in the Arctic with this crippled expedition, they headed back to England where they arrived in October 1825.

He again set sail, this time as second in command in Parry’s expedition, on 4 March 1827. The aim this time was to reach the Pole by going north from Spitzbergen while dragging boats on sledges over the ice in preparation for navigating the mythical “Open Polar Sea”. They made use of the “Hecla” again. The journey over the ice proved impossible as the weather conditions were terrible, making it impossible for the men to pull their heavy sledges.  To make matters worse, the ice was moving south under them. For every ten miles they laboriously dragged the sledges only four miles were gained. On the 26^th July, Parry decided to turn back after becoming snow blind and realizing it was an uphill struggle.  Unfortunately, Ross was severely injured on this trip when he got wedged between a boat and an icy hummock. When they turned back, they were still 500 miles from the North Pole.  Ross returned back to England on October 6^th.

In 1827, he was rewarded with a commission as commander, but did not receive an appointment, which meant he was only on half pay.  His situation changed in 1829 when his uncle John Ross prepared for a privately financed expedition to attempt the Northwest Passage in the sidewheeler “Victory”. They overwintered in Felix Harbour, during which time James explored the shore and proved that Boothia was a peninsula as the Inuit (Eskimos) had told them and not an island as John Ross had hoped.

They could not return due to ice and had to overwinter a second year. John Ross ordered his men to eat the Inuit diet, which prevented scurvy. In the spring James went on his sledging journeys again and located the North Magnetic Pole on the morning of June 1^st, 1831 and by planting the British flag, took possession of the North Magnetic Pole and adjoining territory in the name of King William IV, and erected a cairn.

During the summer, the ship was still not released by the ice.  Captain John Ross decided to abandon the ship as soon as the weather moderated, load boats and provisions on sledges, and go back to Fury Beach. They did not get further than Prince Regent Inlet where they were forced to spend the forth winter. Finally, on the 26^th of August 1833, they were picked up by a whaler in Baffin Bay, having spent an unprecedented four and a half years in the Arctic. Upon their return James C. Ross was assigned to “Victory” at Portsmouth and on 28 Oct. 1834 received his well-deserved promotion to post-captain.

In January 1836, he sailed to the relief of eleven whaling ships that were stuck in ice in the Davis Strait.  When he came back he had spent an unequalled eight winters and 15 navigation seasons in the Arctic regions. For his distinguished service he was offered a knighthood, which, for unknown reasons, he refused.

The British Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Society of London supported his next voyage, as commander of an Antarctic expedition to study this magnetism in extreme southern latitudes. In September 1839, he sailed with two vessels, the “Erebus” and “Terror” for the southern hemisphere. The next three years were spent making geographical and magnetic observations.  During the winter months he returned to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) and Australia.  When he returned home from this very successful expedition in September 1843, he had discovered Victoria Land, McMurdo Sound, the Ross Sea, and the great Ross Ice Barrier.

A month after returning, he married Ann Coulman and spent the next five years as a family man in Aylesbury Ross.  There he wrote one of the most important books ever to be written about the Antarctic; “A voyage of discovery and research in the southern and Antarctic regions during the years 1839–43.

The pull of polar travel was too much and his wife let him go again in May 1848, on a special mission of mercy; the search for Sir John Franklin and his party. Unfortunately, they did not locate the lost men.

This was his last voyage, and true to his original promise to his wife not to go on any voyages again, he spent the rest of his live quietly with his wife and four children.  He received his last honor in 1856, when he was made a rear-admiral. His wife died in 1857, which was a great loss for Ross.