15 Facts About Edward Belcher

Sir Edward Belcher was a British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer.

Edward Belcher was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the second son of Andrew Edward Belcher and entered the Royal Navy in 1812.

Edward Belcher took up the work which Beechey had left unfinished on the Pacific coast of South America.

Edward Belcher made various observations at a number of islands which he visited, having been delayed by being despatched to take part in the war in China in 1840.

On 25 January 1841, Commander Edward Belcher landed on Possession Point at the north shore Hong Kong Island, and made the first British survey of Hong Kong harbour.

In 1852 Edward Belcher led the last and largest Admiralty expedition to attempt to find and rescue Sir John Franklin.

Edward Belcher was to look for his former surveying officer in Hong Kong, Sir Richard Collinson, and Sir Robert McClure, whose ships had not been seen after entering the Bering Strait.

Edward Belcher did a great deal of sledge exploration, rescued McClure and abandoned four of his five ships in the ice.

Edward Belcher went north by sledge and found a channel at the northern tip of Devon Island, hinting that Franklin might have used it to escape to Baffin Bay.

Edward Belcher went through a court martial, which was automatic for any captain who had lost a ship.

Edward Belcher was exonerated, but his sword was returned to him "without observation".

Edward Belcher was briefly married to Diana Jolliffe, stepdaughter of Captain Peter Heywood; that marriage ending upon her application for legal separation for his having infected her with venereal disease.

Edward Belcher's name is commemorated in the Belcher Islands, in the Canadian Arctic.

Edward Belcher is commemorated with a plaque in the Admiralty Garden, CFB Halifax.

Edward Belcher collected the holotype which is housed in the Natural History Museum, London.