John Biscoe

John Biscoe (June 28, 1794 – 1843) was an English mariner and explorer who commanded the first expedition known to sight the areas called Enderby Land and Graham Land along the coast of Antarctica. The expedition also found a number of islands in the vicinity of Graham Land, including the Biscoe Islands that were named after him.

Early life

Biscoe was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England. In March 1812, aged seventeen, he joined the Royal Navy and served during the 1812-1815 war against the United States. By the time of his discharge in 1815, he had become an Acting Master. Thereafter he sailed on board merchant shipping as a mate or master, mostly to the East or West Indies [ [http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P002265b.htm Biscoe, John (1794 - 1843)] .]

Southern Ocean expedition, 1830-1833

In 1830, the whaling company Samuel Enderby and Sons appointed Biscoe master of the brig "Tula" and leader of an expedition to find new seal-hunting grounds in the Southern Ocean. Accompanied by the cutter "Lively", the "Tula" left London and by December had reached the South Shetland Islands. The expedition then sailed further south, crossing the Antarctic Circle on January 22, 1831, before turning east at 60°S.

Just over a month later, on February 24, 1831, the expedition sighted bare mountain tops through the ocean ice. Biscoe correctly surmised that they were part of a continent and named the area Enderby Land in honour of his patrons. On February 28, a headland was spotted, which Biscoe named Cape Ann; the mountain atop the headland would later be named Mount Biscoe. Biscoe kept the expedition in the area while he began to chart the coastline, but after a month his and his crews' health were deteriorating. The expedition set sail toward Australia, reaching Hobart, Tasmania in May, but not before two crew members had died from scurvy.

The expedition wintered in Hobart before heading back toward the Antarctic. On February 15, 1832, Adelaide Island was discovered and two days later the Biscoe Islands. A further four days later, on February 21, more extensive coastline was spotted. Surmising again that he had encountered a continent, Biscoe named the area "Graham Land" [The name "Graham Land" is now used to refer to the entire northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula.] , after First Lord of the Admiralty Sir James Graham. Biscoe landed on Anvers Island and claimed to have sighted the mainland of the Antarctic continent. [cite web
last =Mastro
first =Jim
coauthors =Lisa Mastro
title =History
publisher =Antarctic Online
date =1998-2006
url =http://www.antarcticaonline.com/antarctica/history/history.htm
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ]

Before heading homeward, Biscoe again began charting the new coastline the expedition had found and by the end of April 1832 he had become the third man (after James Cook and Fabian von Bellingshausen) to circumnavigate the Antarctic continent. On the journey home, one calamity befell the expedition: in July, the "Lively" was wrecked at the Falkland Islands. The expedition nonetheless returned to London safely by the beginning of 1833.

As well as exploring the Antarctic coastline, the expedition had also tried in vain to rediscover the Aurora Islands and Nimrod Island. These were islands in the Southern Ocean that other mariners had claimed to have found, but eventually, during the twentieth century, they were declared to be phantom.

Footnotes

Bibliography

* John Biscoe, edited George Murray, "From the Journal of a Voyage towards the South Pole on board the brig Tula, under the command of John Biscoe, with the cutter Lively in company", Royal Geographical Society, London: 1901.

External links

* [http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/0308bisc.html Information page for the John Biscoe archives] held at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge.