Edward Bransfield

Edward Bransfield
Born	1785 Ballinacurra, County Cork, Ireland
Died	31 October 1852 (Aged 67) Brighton, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1803–1820
Battles/wars	Bombardment of Algiers

Edward Bransfield (c. 1785 – 31 October 1852) rose to become an officer in the British Royal Navy, serving as a master on several ships, after being impressed into service at the age of eighteen in Ireland, where he was born. He is noted for exploring parts of Antarctica, sighting the Trinity Peninsula in January 1820.

Edward Bransfield was born in Ballinacurra, County Cork, Ireland, in c.1785. While little is known of Edward's family or early life, the Bransfields were thought to have been a well-known and respected Catholic family. The Bransfields may have had enough money to pay for Edward's education, but because of the Penal Laws, it is more likely that he attended a local hedge school. On 2 June 1803, Bransfield, then eighteen years old, was removed by British sailors from his father's fishing boat and impressed into the Royal Navy.

He began as an ordinary seaman on the 110-gun first rate ship of the line HMS Ville de Paris, where he shared living quarters with William Edward Parry, then a twelve-year-old midshipman. He later also became known in Polar exploration. Bransfield was rated as an able seaman in 1805 and was appointed to the 110-gun first rate HMS Royal Sovereign (which had taken part in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805); he was promoted in 1806 to able seaman, then 2nd master's mate in 1808, midshipman in 1808, clerk in 1809, and midshipman again in 1811. By 1812 he had achieved the rank of second master, and in the same year he was made acting master on HMS Goldfinch, a 10-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloop.

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