William Parry (explorer)

Rear Admiral Sir William Edward Parry, RN, FRS (19 December 1790 – 8 or 9 July 1855) was an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer. His 1819 voyage through the Parry Channel was probably the most successful in the long quest for the Northwest Passage. In 1827 he attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole. He reached 82°45′ North latitude, setting the record for human exploration farthest North that stood for nearly five decades before being surpassed at 83°20′26″ by Albert Hastings Markham in 1875–1876.

Parry was born in Bath, the son of Dr. Caleb Hillier Parry and Sarah Rigby. He was educated at King Edward's School, Bath. At the age of thirteen he joined the flagship of Admiral Cornwallis in the Channel fleet as a first-class volunteer, in 1806 became a midshipman, and in 1810 received promotion to the rank of lieutenant in the frigate Alexander, which spent the next three years in the protection of the Spitsbergen whale fishery. He took advantage of this opportunity for the study and practice of astronomical observations in northern latitudes, and afterwards published the results of his studies in a small volume on Nautical Astronomy by Night (1816). From 1813–1817 he served on the North American station.

In 1818 he received command of the brig Alexander in the Arctic expedition under Captain (afterwards Sir) John Ross. This expedition followed the coast of Baffin Bay without making any new discoveries.

Parry and many others thought that Ross was wrong to turn back after entering Lancaster Sound at the north end of Baffin Island. Partly as a result Parry was given command of a new expedition in the HMS Hecla accompanied by the slower HMS Griper under Matthew Liddon. Others on the expedition were Edward Sabine, science officer and Frederick William Beechy. For protection from ice the ships were clad with 3-inch (7.6 cm) oak, had iron plates on their bows and internal cross-beams. They also carried food in tin cans, an invention so new that there were as yet no can openers. Instead of taking Ross's easy route anti-clockwise around Baffin Bay he headed straight for Lancaster Sound. Fighting his way through ice he reached clear water on 28 July and headed for Lancaster Sound. He passed Ross's farthest west and kept going. Blocked by heavy ice, they went south for more than 100 miles (160 km) into Prince Regent Inlet before turning back.

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