15 Facts About James Weddell

James Weddell was born in Ostend on the Belgian coast, the son of a Scottish sea captain.

James Weddell was apprenticed as a seaman and so received little education, but clearly could at least read and write.

James Weddell originally worked on merchant ships on the north-east Scottish coast.

James Weddell entered the merchant service very early in his life and was apparently bound to the master of a Newcastle collier for some years.

James Weddell studied navigation during his imprisonment and on release joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman.

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News of the discovery of the South Shetland Islands had just broken, and James Weddell suggested that fortunes might be made in the new sealing grounds.

James Weddell returned with the holds full, and the voyage was so profitable that Strachan and Mitchell had a second ship, the Beaufoy, built.

James Weddell returned north and sheltered at South Georgia, where he and his crews searched for the elusive seal.

James Weddell returned in March 1824 to the Falklands and headed back to England, where he arrived in July.

James Weddell was persuaded by Strachan and Mitchell to incorporate everything in a book.

James Weddell appears to have been resident in Edinburgh, Scotland in the summer of 1826, when he was cited for non-payment of a debt of £245, loaned to him by the Commercial Bank.

James Weddell was certainly in Edinburgh in February 1827 as he was elected an Ordinary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, requiring his physical presence.

James Weddell offered his services to the Admiralty with a proposal for a return voyage to the high southern latitudes, but was turned down.

Loss of the Jane meant financial ruin for James Weddell, who was forced to take paid employment as a ship's master.

James Weddell was buried in the churchyard of St Clement Danes in the Strand, very close to his home.