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Sir Allen William Young,CB, CVO (12 December 1827 – 20 November 1915) was an English master mariner and explorer, best remembered for his role inArctic exploration including the search forSir John Franklin.
Allen Young was born atTwickenham on 12 December 1827, and went to sea as amidshipman in the merchant marine in 1842. By 1853 he was master of theBlackwall FrigateMarlborough and made two round voyages between England andAustralia. During theCrimean War, he was master of the 3,000-tontroop shipAdelaide.
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In 1857, Allen Young offered himself as sailing master of the auxiliary steamshipFox under the overall command ofFrancis Leopold McClintock, that was to search theFranklin expedition, missing since 1845. He also donated 500 pounds to the expedition, andLady Franklin gratefully accepted his services. The expedition went on to find the only written record of the missing expedition's fate, and Young himself undertook several lengthy overland sled journeys in the search.
In 1860, Allen Young was captain ofFox, as part of an expedition to determine the feasibility of carrying atelegraph line from Europe to America via theFaroe Islands,Iceland, andGreenland. ColonelTaliaferro Shaffner, who had proposed this route, Arctic explorer and physician Dr.John Rae, and senior lieutenant of the Danish ArmyTheodor Zeilau [da] were in charge of surveying on land. The steamerBulldog, commanded by McClintock, also took part.[1] Although the expedition reported in favour of executing the plan, it never came to fruition.[2]
In 1874 Allen Young purchased the supersededBritish Royal Navy gunvesselPandora in order to make a final search for the missing written records of the Franklin expedition, with additional funding from Lady Franklin. Innes-Lillingston was the first officer, the second officer was George Pirie andL. R. Koolemans Beynen was third officer. The expedition sailed fromSouthampton late in June 1875, but heavy ice inPeel Sound prevented the vessel from reaching the search area, and the expedition returned unsuccessful. By this time Lady Franklin had died. In 1876 Allen Young took thePandora on a second voyage to the Arctic with stores to relieve theBritish Arctic Expedition. Young wasknighted in recognition of his services.[3]
Sir Allen Young planned another expedition inPandora in 1878, but was induced by a sponsorJames Gordon Bennett, Jr. to sell the vessel to him. She was renamedJeannette for aUnited States Arctic expedition, and subsequently wrecked with heavy loss of life.
In 1881 Sir Allen Young was commissioned to take the steamshipHope in search ofBenjamin Leigh Smith's expedition missing inFranz Josef Land, north of Russia. He successfully located the expeditioners early in August, to learn that their vesselEira had been crushed by ice and sunk on 21 August 1881.
In 1885 Sir Allen Young was master of the hospital shipStella supporting British military actions in theSoudan.[4]
During 1886-87 Sir Allen Young proposed and lobbied for leadership of a British Antarctic Expedition, but adequate financial support failed to materialise.[5]
Sir Allen Young was a friend of thePrince of Wales, subsequently KingEdward VII of the United Kingdom. He is remembered for a dinner party he held inLondon on 24 May 1877 at which arranged for the Prince to sit next to his mistressLillie Langtry while her husband was discreetly seated elsewhere. Keeping his friendship after the Prince acceded as King, Young is listed as visitingSandringham House in early 1903.[6]
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