Edward Bransfield
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2015) |
Edward Bransfield | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1785 Ballinacurra, County Cork, Kingdom of Ireland |
Died | 31 October 1852 (aged 66–67) Brighton, England |
Service/ | Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1803–1820 |
Rank | Master |
Battles/wars | Bombardment of Algiers |
Edward Bransfield (c. 1785 – 31 October 1852) was an Irish sailor who became an officer in the British
Early life
Edward Bransfield was born in
He began as an ordinary seaman on the 110-gun
Between the years 1814 and 1816, Bransfield served briefly as
Antarctic exploration
During 1773, James Cook sailed beyond the Antarctic Circle, noting with pride in his journal that he was "undoubtedly the first that ever crossed that line." The next year, Cook circumnavigated Antarctica completely and reached a latitude of 71°10'S before being driven back by the ice. Although Cook failed to see Antarctica, he dispelled once and for all the myth that a fertile, populous continent surrounded the South Pole. Not surprisingly, the British Admiralty lost interest in the Antarctic and turned its attention to the ongoing search for the Northwest Passage. Almost half a century passed before anyone else is known to have travelled as far south as Cook.
In February 1819, while rounding Cape Horn, William Smith, the owner and skipper of the English merchant ship William, was driven south by adverse winds and discovered what came to be known as the South Shetland Islands. When news of his discovery reached Valparaíso, Captain Shirreff of the Royal Navy decided that the matter warranted further investigation. He chartered William and appointed Bransfield, two midshipmen, and the surgeon from the ship HMS Slaney to survey the newly discovered islands. Smith remained aboard, acting as Bransfield's pilot.
After a brief and uneventful voyage into the Southern Ocean, Bransfield and Smith reached the South Shetland Islands. Bransfield landed on
Unknown to Bransfield, two days earlier, on 28 January 1820, Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen may have caught sight of an icy shoreline now known to be part of East Antarctica. On the basis of this sighting and the coordinates given in his logbook, Bellingshausen has been credited by some (e.g., British polar historian A. G. E. Jones) with the discovery of the continent.
Having charted a segment of the Trinity Peninsula, Bransfield followed the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet in a northeasterly direction and discovered various points on Elephant Island and Clarence Island, which he also formally claimed for the British Crown. He did not sail around Elephant Island and did not name it, although he charted Clarence Island completely.
When Bransfield returned to Valparaíso, he gave his charts and journal to Captain Shirreff, who delivered them to the Admiralty. The original charts are still in the possession of the hydrographic department in
Later life
The remainder of Bransfield's life is obscure. He died on 31 October 1852 at the age of 66 or 67, and was buried in the Brighton Extra-Mural Cemetery in southern England. His wife survived him and was buried in the same grave after her death in 1863.
Legacy and honors
Bransfield Island, Bransfield Strait, Bransfield Trough, Bransfield Rocks, and Mount Bransfield were all named in his honour.[4]
In 1999, Edward Bransfield's grave, discovered in a deteriorated state in a Brighton churchyard, was renovated (funded by charitable donations) by Sheila Bransfield. In 2002, she completed a master's thesis on his role in the discovery of Antarctica at the Greenwich Maritime Institute. The event was marked by a ceremony attended by numerous dignitaries.
In 2000, the Royal Mail issued a commemorative stamp in Bransfield's honour, but as no likeness of him could be found, the stamp depicted instead RRS Bransfield, an Antarctic surveying vessel named after him.
In January 2020, on the 200th anniversary of his discovery of Antarctica, a commemorative monument was unveiled in his hometown of Ballincurra, in County Cork, Ireland.[5] On the same day a blue plaque was unveiled at his former home at 11 Clifton Road, Brighton.
See also
- Nathaniel Palmer, the first American to see Antarctica, on 17 November 1820
- Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
- History of Antarctica
- Livingston Island
References
- ^ Hanessian, John (1963). Antarctica. New Zealand: Antarctica. p. 23.
It was in this period that Edward Bransfield surveyed the South Shetlands in 1819–20 and may have been the first to sight the Antarctic Continent
- ^ a b Michael Smith, Great Endeavour: Ireland's Antarctic Explorers, Dublin: The Collins Press, 2010, p. 10.
- ^ Michael Smith, Great Endeavour: Ireland's Antarctic Explorers, Dublin: The Collins Press, 2010, p. 12.
- ^ Flavley, Pat. "Edward Bransfield". Beyond Endurance. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
- ^ "Irish explorer who discovered Antarctica honoured in home village". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
Further reading
- The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal (April 1821)
- London Literary Gazette(November 1821)
- Encyclopædia Britannica (14th edition, 1962)
- Review: On Some Misrepresentations of Antarctic History The Geographical Journal (October 1939) pg 309
- The Mariner's Mirror (July 1941) pg 213 onwards
- Huntford, Roland (1985). The Last Place on Earth. Pan Books Ltd., London. ISBN 0-330-28816-4.
- The Discovery of the South Shetland Islands 1819–1820: The Journal of Midshipman C W Poynter (Hakluyt Society, London 2000), R J Campbell (Editor)
- The Antarctic Problem: An Historical and Political Study (George Allen & Unwin, London 1951), E W Hunter Christie.
- Below the Convergence: Voyages Towards Antarctica 1699–1839 (W W Norton Co Ltd, London, 1977), Alan Gurney.
- Antarctica Observed – Who Discovered the Antarctic Continent? (Caedmon of Whitby, North Yorkshire, 1982) A G E Jones
- Ф. Ф. Беллингсгаузен. "Двукратные изыскания в южнополярном океане и плавание вокруг света". By Imperial Decree, St Petersburg, 1831, two vols.
- The Voyage of Captain Bellingshausen to the Antarctic seas 1819–1821. Translated from the Russian, edited by Frank Debenham, OBE MA, Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, MCMXLV. London, printed for the Hakluyt Society (W Lewis, University Press, Cambridge)
- "The Bombardment of Algiers, 1816" from 'History Today' January 1978, Derek Severn. Also Gunfire in Barbary – Admiral Lord Exmouth's Battle with the Corsairs of Algiers in 1816 by Roger Perkins and Captain K J Douglas-Morris RN (Kenneth Mason, Homewell, Havant, Hampshire, 1982)
- The Role of Edward Bransfield in the Discovery of Antarctica, Greenwich Maritime Institute, (Dissertation submitted towards the MA in Maritime History, 2002), Sheila Bransfield MA
- Michael Smith, Great Endeavour – Ireland's Antarctic Explorers, Collins Press, 2010