Balleny, John (b. c. 1770, d. in or after 1842), merchant navy officer and Antarctic discoverer, was born c.1770 but nothing is known about his early life and education. He may have been a Londoner, brought up in the Newcastle coal trade. From 1798, when he was living in the parish of ...
Article
Balleny, John (b. c. 1770, d. in or after 1842), merchant navy officer and Antarctic discoverer
A. G. E. Jones
revised by Elizabeth Baigent
Article
Biscoe, John (bap. 1794, d. 1843), merchant navy officer and explorer
A. G. E. Jones
revised by Elizabeth Baigent
Biscoe, John (bap. 1794, d. 1843), merchant navy officer and explorer, was baptized in Enfield on 28 June 1794, the third son and youngest child of Thomas Biscoe of Waltham Abbey and his wife, Ann Tibbs. Nothing is known of his early years, but on leaving school he became a clerk. On 11 March 1812 he volunteered for the ...
Article
Drake, Sir Francis (1540–1596), pirate, sea captain, and explorer
Harry Kelsey
Drake, Sir Francis (1540–1596), pirate, sea captain, and explorer, was born about February or March 1540 in Crowndale, near Tavistock, Devon, the eldest of five known children of Edmund Drake (d. 1566) of Tavistock. Edmund's wife is unknown, though she may have been named ...
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Drake, Sir Francis (1540–1596)
Maker: Jodocus Hondius?
In
Sir Francis Drake (1540–1596) by Jodocus Hondius? © Copyright The British Museum
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Frobisher, Sir Martin (1535?–1594), privateer, explorer, and naval commander
James McDermott
Frobisher, Sir Martin (1535
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Frobisher, Sir Martin (1535?–1594)
Maker: Cornelius Ketel
In
Sir Martin Frobisher (1535?–1594) by Cornelius Ketel, 1577 © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
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Gosnold, Bartholomew (d. 1607), sea captain and explorer
David R. Ransome
Gosnold, Bartholomew (d. 1607), sea captain and explorer, was the elder son of a Suffolk gentleman, Anthony Gosnold of Grundisburgh, Clopton, and Burgh, and Dorothy Bacon, a kinswoman of the lord keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon. Bartholomew is first recorded on 20 October 1572 when his great-grandfather ...
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Keymis [Kemys], Lawrence (1564/5–1618), mariner and explorer
Anita McConnell
Keymis [Kemys], Lawrence (1564/5–1618), mariner and explorer, was born in Wiltshire and entered Balliol College, Oxford, in 1581 at the age of sixteen. He graduated BA in 1584 and held a junior bursarship in 1585–6, when his admission of liability for unpaid bills and uncollected battels amounting to over ...
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Laird, Macgregor (1808–1861), shipbuilder and explorer
John Flint
Laird, Macgregor (1808–1861), shipbuilder and explorer, was born in Greenock, the younger son of William Laird, founder of the Birkenhead firm of shipbuilders, and Agnes Macgregor; he was the brother of John Laird. On leaving school in Edinburgh he was given a partnership in the business by his father....
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Paterson, Daniel (1738–1825), compiler of road books and cartographer
Elizabeth Baigent
Paterson, Daniel (1738–1825), compiler of road books and cartographer, was born on 17 December 1738 at Duddingston, Edinburgh, the son of Walter Paterson and his wife, Ann Kilby, or Killbee. He was baptized at Duddingston on 19 December. His father worked on the estate at ...
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Smith, William (1790–1847), merchant navy officer and Antarctic explorer
A. G. E. Jones
revised
Smith, William (1790–1847), merchant navy officer and Antarctic explorer, was born on 11 October 1790 in Seaton Sluice, Northumberland, the elder child of William Smith, joiner, of Seaton Sluice, and his wife, Mary Sharpe, of Earsdon, Northumberland. Nothing is known about his early years and education but he was probably apprenticed aged fourteen to the east coast coal trade. In 1811 he became owner and master of the ...
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Snow, William Parker (1817–1895), mariner and explorer
J. K. Laughton
revised by Elizabeth Baigent
Snow, William Parker (1817–1895), mariner and explorer, son of a naval officer, was born at Poole, Dorset, on 27 November 1817. His father died in 1826, leaving the family ill provided for; his mother took the family to Jersey and Normandy, leaving William...
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Wiggins, Joseph (1833–1905), Arctic explorer and merchant navy officer
O. J. R. Howarth
revised by Elizabeth Baigent
Wiggins, Joseph (1833–1905), Arctic explorer and merchant navy officer, was born on 3 August 1833 at Norwich, where he was baptized at St Peter’s Mancroft on 27 November 1833, the son of Joseph Wiggins (d. 1843) and his wife, Anne Petty (...
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Wiggins, Joseph (1832–1905)
Maker: Lavender
Joseph Wiggins (1832–1905) by Lavender © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Young, Sir Allen William (1827–1915)
Maker: Stephen Pearce
In
Sir Allen William Young (1827–1915) by Stephen Pearce, 1876 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Young, Sir Allen William (1827–1915), merchant navy officer and polar explorer
R. N. Rudmose Brown
revised by Elizabeth Baigent
Young, Sir Allen William (1827–1915), merchant navy officer and polar explorer, was born at Lincoln's Inn Fields, Holborn, London, on 12 December 1827, the second son and fourth of ten children of Henry Young (1792/3–1854), a solicitor, later of Riversdale, Twickenham...
