Parry, William Edward

William Edward (1790-1855), an English Arctic explorer. He was the son of a physician of Bath and was educated in the grammar school of that place. He went to sea as a midshipman when a mere youth. He was a member of the John Ross expedition in search of a northwest passage to the Pacific. On his return he was made commander of two ships and set out on the same mission. He made three trips to the region westward of Greenland. On one of these trips he reached Melville Islands and crossed the 110th meridian of west longitude. He received a standing reward of $25,000 which had been offered to any navigator who should accomplish this feat. Parry also attempted to reach the north pole by way of Spitzbergen. He expected to find a solid body of ice on which to travel with sledges, but was disappointed. The most northerly point reached by him was 82 deg. 45' north latitude. On retiring from the sea, he was knighted and received a comfortable position in the government service in connection with the making of sea charts. He wrote several books descriptive of his voyages. His name has been given to the Parry Islands, an archipelago in which Melville and neighboring islands are included. See Arctic Regions