Sir Leopold McClintock | |
|---|---|
.jpg) McClintockc. 1860 | |
| North America and West Indies Station | |
| Commander-in-Chief 27 November 1879 – 7 November 1882 (1879-11-27 –1882-11-07) | |
| Preceded by | Sir Edward Inglefield |
| Succeeded by | Sir John Commerell |
| Jamaica Division | |
| Commodore 6 September 1865 – 21 February 1868 (1865-09-06 –1868-02-21) | |
| Preceded by | Sir Algernon de Horsey |
| Succeeded by | Sir Augustus Phillimore |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Francis Leopold McClintock (1819-07-08)8 July 1819 Dundalk,County Louth, Ireland |
| Died | 17 November 1907(1907-11-17) (aged 88) Kensington,London, England |
| Resting place | Hanwell Cemetery |
| Spouse | |
| Children | John William McClintock |
| Awards | |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Navy |
| Service years | 1835–1884 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Expeditions | McClintock Arctic expedition |
AdmiralSir Francis Leopold McClintockKCB FRS (8 July 1819 – 17 November 1907) was an Irish explorer in the BritishRoyal Navy, known for his discoveries in theCanadian Arctic Archipelago. He confirmed explorerJohn Rae's controversial report gathered fromInuit sources on the fate ofFranklin's lost expedition, the ill-fated Royal Navy undertaking commanded by SirJohn Franklin in 1845 attempting to be the first to traverse theNorthwest Passage.
McClintock's report was received more favorably than that of Rae, who was shunned and denied recognition for having discovered the lost expedition's fate. Rae's report ultimately guided McClintock to the correct area to conduct a search. McClintock also stirred controversy with his claim that Franklin, before his death, had essentially discovered the Northwest Passage, while in reality he had not. Rae, with his discovery ofRae Strait, had discovered the real ice-free passage through North America's Arctic archipelago.
McClintock was born on 8 July 1819, one of 14 children of Henry McClintock, a collector of customs atDundalk inCounty Louth, Ireland, and his wife Elizabeth Melesinanée Fleury. He was the second oldest son, although the eldest died somewhere in the Caribbean, aged over 40.
The family was well connected; McClintock's uncle,John McClintock, was a Member of Parliament for County Louth and ownedDrumcar House.[1]
In July 1831, aged just 12 years old, he joined HMS Samarang at Portsmouth, as a Gentleman Volunteer. The Captain was Capt. Charles Paget (who would later marry one of his sisters, Emily Caroline) and the Lieutenant was a relation, William McClintock-Bunbury, whose son Thomas later became 2nd Lord Rathdonnell . In 1843 he passed his examination for lieutenancy and joined the steamship "Gorgon", which was driven ashore atMontevideo and salvaged, a feat of seamanship on the part of her captain and officers that attracted much attention. Hitherto, until 1847, McClintock's service was almost wholly on the American coasts.[2]
.svg)
McClintock joined a series of searches for SirJohn Franklin between 1848 and 1859. He mastered travel through themanhauling of sledges, which remained the standard practice when it came to overland travel in icy territory in the Royal Navy, until the death ofRobert Falcon Scott in his bid to reach theSouth Pole in 1912.
.svg)
In 1848, McClintock accompaniedJames Clark Ross on his survey ofSomerset Island. As part of CaptainHenry Kellett's expedition from 1852 to 1854, McClintock travelled 1,400 miles (2,300 km) by sled and discovered 800 miles (1,300 km) of previously unknown coastline.[5]
.svg)
In 1854, explorerJohn Rae travelled west fromRepulse Bay, on the northern shores ofHudson Bay, and learned from the Inuit that a ship had been abandoned somewhere to the west. Previous expeditions had not searched the area because they thought it was ice-blocked.
In April 1857, at LadyJane Franklin's request, McClintock agreed to take command of theFox and led a 25-man crew in a new search forFranklin's lost expedition in the area west of Repulse Bay. AtDisko Bay on the west coast ofGreenland, he hired 30 sled dogs and anInuk driver. It was a bad year for ice, and from September theFox was beset in the ice for eight months. The following year was another disappointment, and he did not reachBeechey Island until August 1858. He enteredPeel Sound, found it blocked by ice, backed up, and enteredPrince Regent Inlet in the hope of passingBellot Strait. He was glad to extricate himself from this narrow passage and found winter quarters near its entrance.
In February 1859, when sledging became practical, he went south to theNorth Magnetic Pole – which had been found byJames Clark Ross in 1831. Here he met some Inuit who told him that a ship had been crushed by ice offKing William Island, the crew had landed safely and that some white people had starved to death on an island. In April, he went south again and on the east coast of King William Island met other Inuit who sold him artefacts from Franklin's expedition. William Hobson, who had separated from him, found the only written record left by Franklin's expedition buried under a cairn on the northwest corner of the island. The document recorded SirJohn Franklin's death on 11 June 1847, and also intimatedFrancis Crozier andJames Fitzjames' plan to lead the survivors south toward the North American mainland. They also found a skeleton with European clothes and a ship's boat on runners containing two corpses. They got as far south asMontreal Island and the mouth of theBack's Great Fish River.
McClintock returned to England in September 1859, and was hailed as the discoverer of the lost expedition's fate. In addition to being knighted, the officers and men of theFox shared a £5,000 parliamentary reward. The tale was published inThe Voyage of the 'Fox' in the Arctic seas: a narrative of the discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin and his companions. McClintock's findings were of special importance for the subsequent romantification of John Franklin's figure in British culture, since the establishment of his date of death as having occurred before the ships' abandonment and the crew's failed trek south, firmly acquitted the veteran sailor from any suspicion ofcannibalism. This had been a concern since 1854, when Rae had arrived back to London with shocking reports from Inuit sources that had greatly scandalized Victorian society, particularly Lady Franklin.
McClintock's writings, on the other hand, were obsequious towards Franklin, even going so far as to celebrate his "virtual completion" of theNorthwest Passage, even thoughErebus andTerror never sailed throughRae Strait, the only truly navigable passageway – for a 19th-century ship – that would have allowed sailing along North America's northern Arctic coastline all the way into the Pacific.[6]
In 1860, McClintock took command of thepaddle steamerBulldog as part of an expedition to determine the feasibility of carrying atelegraph line from Europe to America via theFaroe Islands,Iceland, andGreenland. TheFox, commanded byAllen Young who had already accompanied McClintock on the search Franklin as sailing master, also took part. The northern telegraph route was a proposition by ColonelTaliaferro Shaffner. Although McClintock reported in favour of executing the plan, it never came to fruition.[7]
In 1865 McClintock was elected aFellow of the Royal Society.[2] From 1865 to 1868, he was appointed CommodoreJamaica Division, and he superintendedJamaica Dockyard. From 1872 to 1877, McClintock wasadmiral-superintendent ofPortsmouth Dockyard.[8] In 1879, he was appointed commander-in-chief of theNorth America and West Indies Station aboard the flagshipHMS Northampton.[9] McClintock retired from the Royal Navy in 1884 as a rear admiral. In 1882 he was elected an Elder Brother ofTrinity House, and served actively in that capacity.[2] He died on 17 November 1907[10] and was buried atKensington Cemetery.[11]
McClintock unsuccessfully contested a seat inparliament for the borough ofDrogheda, but while there he made the acquaintance of Annette Delap, (later changed to Dunlop) and married her in 1870. She was the daughter of Robert Foster Delap (1809–1875) and Hon. Anna Elizabeth Foster (later Skeffington) 1817-1901.[2] Robert Foster Delap's father, William Drummond Delap, changed their surname to Dunlop in 1861 by Special Licence.There were five children, including:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 204.
