Admiral Sir George Back was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer of the Canadian Arctic, naturalist and artist.
15 Facts About George Back
2.
George Back proposed to take fur trade routes to the Great Slave Lake and follow the Great Fish River northeast to Ross's probable location.
3.
George Back left England in February 1833, reached the Great Slave Lake in August where George McLeod of the Hudson's Bay Company had built winter quarters at Fort Reliance at the eastern end of the lake.
4.
George Back set out on 7 June 1834, passed Artillery Lake and Clinton-Colden Lake and reached the river on 28 June.
5.
George Back ran east down a river in the barren grounds with 83 rapids but only one portage.
6.
George Back explored the inlet, saw King William Island to the north and then unheroically but wisely turned back.
7.
George Back reached Fort Reliance on 27 September 1834 and England on 8 September 1835.
8.
In 1836, George Back was promoted to captain by an Order in Council, a rare honour.
9.
George Back left in June 1836, which was late in the season.
10.
George Back was made a Knight Bachelor on 18 March 1839, and maintained an interest in Arctic exploration for the rest of his life.
11.
George Back served as an advisor to the Admiralty during the search for Franklin's lost expedition, and as vice-president of the Royal Geographical Society, having received its gold and silver medal.
12.
George Back is buried in the Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
13.
Experts at the prestigious London auction house Bonhams credited the watercolour to George Back, claiming it had been presented by George Back to his sister Katherine Pares, and thence descended through her family.
14.
George Back drew HMS Terror Thrown Up By Ice and the portrait A Buffalo Pound, which was later reworked into an engraving.
15.
George Back painted the watercolour 'Winter View of Fort Franklin'.