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John Ross
24th June 1777, in Barsalloch (southeast coast of Scotland) - 30th August 1856 in London, England
Interesting Trivia:
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At 9 years old he joined the Royal Navy as an apprentice
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In 1794 he joined the East India Company
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Served in the Napoleonic Wars
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In 1812 became a Commander
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Got honorary citizenship from cities like London, Liverpool, Bristol and others
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Received several prizes and medals from other European countries for his 1829-1833 expedition
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Were able to reveal the geography of the Canadian Arctic and the eastern segment of the Northwest Passage.
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Received a knighthood of the Pole Star of Sweden
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On December 24, 1834, he got his knighthood
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Publications by him: Voyage of Discovery for the Purpose of Exploring Baffin's Bay (1819), Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage, including the Discovery of the North Magnetic Pole (1835) and Memoirs and Correspondence of Lord De Saumerez (1838).
His Story:
The mission of Ross’ first expedition, in 1818, was to going around the extreme northeast coast of America and of sailing to Bering Strait. He was given this commission by the English Admiralty and the Royal Society. Unfortunately, during his journey he had some differences of opinion with his officers which later discredited him with the Admirality.
It was not until 1829 that Ross could get another expedition to the Arctic financed. (His friend, Felix Booth, the distiller of Booth gin, came up with the funds). In May that year, Ross, together with his young nephew, James Clark Ross, set out to go further than he had been previously. Their steamboat “Victory” got caught in the ice and the crew ended up four years in the Arctic. In those four years, Ross made use of the help of Inuit people and explored the regions to the west and north.
On June 1, 1831, James Clark Ross identified the magnetic north pole on the west coast of the Boothia Peninsula. Finally, in the spring of 1832, he and his crew left the ship behind and walked to find Parry’s ship (which had been abandoned years earlier). Parry ship, the “Fury” was wrecked but they were able to repair its longboats and took off to reach the whaler fleet. They did not catch up with any whaling boats as they were forced back to the “Fury”.
In August 1833, they finally got a break and sailed east in their boats, and surprisingly met with the “Isabella”, a whaling boat that Ross once sailed on. It was not till October 1833 that they finally returned to England. This adventure gave Ross some of his credibility back and he was a popular guest at various parties. He had proven that one can survive in the far north, although it was never really mentioned that it was thanks to the Inuit people and Ross and his crew adapting the Inuit ways that helped them survive and achieve the things they did.
After this adventure he retired from Artic expeditions to become Great Britain's consul in Stockholm, Sweden, from 1839 to 1846. When he finished that commission, he came back to England. In 1850, he was asked by the Hudson's Bay Company to help in the search for Sir John Franklin, who had gone missing in the Arctic. Although he was already in his seventies, he set off. Unfortunately, in 1851, he came back unsuccessfully.
His final days he lived in Scotland. They were spent being at odds with the naval establishment, which had never wanted to give him the naval commission he had been seeking for. He died while he was visiting London.
Te Papa Whale exhibition in Washington, DC