Ross, James Clark (1800 - 1862)

Summary

James Clark Ross was the Royal Navy's most experienced polar explorer. He joined the Navy in 1812 and achieved the rank of Rear Admiral. Starting in 1818 he spent much of the next 20 years in Arctic exploration and marine surveying. He made two expeditions to Arctic regions with his uncle, John Ross, and four with W. E. Parry. In 1831 J. C. Ross reached the north magnetic pole. During the course of these expeditions he became expert in terrestrial magnetism and natural history. In 1839 Ross was given command of the British Antarctic Expedition, the principal mission of which was to study terrestrial magnetism in the southern hemisphere and Antarctica. The vessels chosen for this Expedition were H.M.S. Erebus and H.M.S. Terror. The Expedition, which twice visited Hobart Town, was considered highly successful. Ross's final polar command was 1848 - 1849, the last voyage to search for John Franklin's ill-fated northwest passage expedition. Ross is commemorated in the Ross Sea, the Ross Ice Shelf and James Ross Island, all in Antarctica.

Details

Chronology

1812 - 1862

Career position - Midshipman (later Rear Admiral), Royal Navy

19 September 1839 - 4 September 1843

Career position - Commander, British Antarctic Expedition and Captain, H.M.S. Erebus

1840

Career event - Co-founder, Rossbank Observatory

1842

Award - Founder's Medal, Royal Geographical Society, London

1848 - 1862

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

Related entries

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• James Clark Ross - Records, 1845 - 1858, ML DOC 1330; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• James Clark Ross - Records, 1827 - 1830, ML MSS 555; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

Published resources

Books

• Dodge, E. S., The polar Rosses: John and James Clark Ross and their explorations (London: Faber and Faber, 1973), 260 pp. Details
• Mawer, Granville Allen, South by Northwest: the Magnetic Crusade and the Contest for Antarctica (Kent Town: Wakefield Press, 2006), 319 pp. Details
• McConville, Andrew, In search of the last continent: Australia and early Antarctic exploration (Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2022), 227 pp. Details
• Palin, Michael, Erebus: the story of a ship (London: Arrow Books, 2018), 334 pp. Details
• Ross, J. C., A voyage of discovery and research in the southern and Antarctic regions during the years 1839 - 1843, vol. 1-2 (London: Murray, 1847). Details
• Ross, M. J., Ross in the Antarctic: the voyages of James Clark Ross in Her Majesty's ships Erebus and Terror 1839-43 (Whitby, U.K.: Caedmon of Whitby Press, 1982), 276 pp. Details
• Ross, Maurice J., Polar pioneers: John Ross and James Clark Ross (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994), 435 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Debenham, Frank, 'The Erebus and Terror at Hobart', Polar record, 3 (1941), 468-75. Details
• Harrowfield, D. L. and Mabin, M. C. G., 'The Possession Islands Ross Sea Antarctica: a history of exploration and scientific endeavour at a Ross Sea archipelago since the first landing in 1841', Polar Record, 59 (e3) (2023), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247422000390. Details
• Robertson, J., 'A few general remarks on the Antarctic continent, discovered by Captains Ross and Crozier', Tasmanian journal of natural science, 2 (1843), 42-55. Details
• Ross, J. C., 'Antarctic discoveries', Tasmanian journal of natural science, 1 (1842), 409-14. Details
• Savours, Ann, 'Two unpublished accounts of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1839 - 1843', Polar record, 10 (69) (1961), 587-604. Details
• Savours, Ann, 'Sir James Clark Ross', Geographical journal, 128 (1962), 325-7. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q200564. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/295803503. Details
• 'Ross, James Clark (18000415-18620403)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-962021. Details

See also

• Cawood, John, 'The magnetic crusade: science and politics in early Victorian Britain', Isis, 70 (4) (1979), 492-518. Details
• Chester, Jonathan, Going to extremes: Project Blizzard and Australia's Antarctic heritage (Sydney: Auckland: Doubleday Australia, 1986), 308 pp. Details
• Fleming, Fergus, Barrow's boys (London: Granta Books, 1889), 489 pp. Details
• Gurney, Alan, The race to the white continent (New York, London: W. W. Norton, 2000), 320 pp. Details
• Jones, Cam Sharp, 'Animals, Joseph Dalton Hooker and the Ross expedition to Antarctica, 1839 - 1843', Journal of maritime research, 22 (1) (2020), 25-40. https://doi.org/10.1080/21533369.2020.18. Details
• Lambert, Andrew, Franklin: tragic hero of polar navigation (London: Faber and Faber, 2009), 428 pp. Details
• Priestley, Rebecca, Dispatches from continent seven: an anthology of Antarctic science (Wellington, New Zealand: Awa Press, 2016), 422 pp. Details
• Pybus, Cassandra, A very secret trade: the dark story of gentlemen collectors in Tasmania (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2024), 318 pp. https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Cassandra-Pybus-Very-Secret-Trade-9781761066344. Pages 155, 157, 158, 160, 163. Details
• Rice, A. L., British oceanographic vessels 1800 - 1950 (London: Ray Society, 1986), 193 pp. Details
• Savours, Ann and McConnell, Anita, 'The History of the Rossbank Observatory, Tasmania', Annals of Science, 39 (1982), 527-564. Details
• Williams, Glyn, Arctic labyrinth: the quest for the Northwest Passage (London: Allen Lane, 2009), 440 pp. Details