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Ross (SIR JOHN an English Arctic)

SIR JOHN, an English Arctic navigator; born in Inch, Wigtownshire, Scotland, June 24, 1777. In 1786 he entered the navy, and saw a considerable amount of service before the peace of 1815, which found him with the rank of commander. In 1817 he accepted the command of an admiralty expedition to search for a N. W. passage, and in April, 1818, set sail in the "Isabella," accompanied by Lieutenant Parry in the "Alexander." After passing through Davis Straits and Baffin Bay the vessels entered Lancaster Sound and proceeded up it for a considerable distance, when Ross conceived the erroneous idea that the sound was here brought to a termination by a chain of mountains, and accordingly returned to England. Shortly after landing he was advanced to the rank of postcaptain, and the following year published an account of his voyage. His next expedition, in the steamer "Victory," was equipped by Sir Felix Booth and set out in May, 1829. Ross entered Prince Regent Inlet and discovered and named Boothia Felix and King William Land.

In 1832 he was forced to abandon his ships, and he and his crew suffered great hardships before they were picked up in August, 1833, by his old ship, the "Isabella." In 1834 Captain Ross was knighted, and in the following year published a narrative of his second voyage. From 1839 till 1845 he was consul at Stockholm.

In 1850 he made a last Arctic voyage in the "Felix," in a vain endeavor to ascertain the fate of Sir John Franklin. He became a rear-admiral in 1851, and died in London, England, Aug. 30, 1856.