British Antarctic Expedition [I] (1839 - 1843)

Summary

In 1839 the British Antarctic Expedition, comprising the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, sailed from London under the command of James Clark Ross to explore the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. Ross had vast experience in Arctic exploration and in 1831 was the first to reach the north magnetic pole. The purpose of the Expedition was to conduct studies in terrestrial magnetism in the southern hemisphere (including on specific dates in tandem with observers in other places) and determine the location of the south magnetic pole. Other scientific programs included meteorological, physical and oceanographic observations (the latter principally of surface and sub-surface temperature readings and depth soundings). Biological and geological collections were to be made whenever possible. During the Expedition's first visit to Hobart Town, Ross and Governor John Franklin established the Rossbank Observatory: Joseph McKay (Lt, HMS Terror) remained to direct the operations of the Observatory. In addition, Ross, Joseph Hooker and several other expedition members participated in the scientific life of the colony and contributed papers to the fledgling Tasmanian journal of natural science.
The Expedition's magnetic program was considered highly successful. Other major achievements included the discovery of the Ross Sea and its ice shelf, and Victorian Land; charting c. 500 miles of coast in this region; the approximate determination of the south magnetic pole; and finding active volcanos in Antarctica (Mts Erebus and Terror). Significant collections were made of botanical, algal, zoological and geological specimens. The principal publications resulting from the Expedition were Ross's Journal (1847), and Hooker's floras of Antarctica, Tasmania and New Zealand (1844 - 1859).

Details

Expedition members included, on HMS Erebus: Robert McCormick, Surgeon (responsible for zoology and geology); Joseph Hooker, Assistant Surgeon (responsible for botany); on HMS Terror; Lt Alexander Smith: Francis Crozier, captain; Lt Joseph W. Kay; Lt Archibald McMurdo (commemorated in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica); John Robertson, surgeon (responsible for zoology and geology); David Lyall, Assistant Surgeon (responsible for botany).

Chronology

19 September 1839

Event - Departed from Chatham, United Kingdom

16 August 1840 - 12 November 1840

Event - At Hobart Town, Van Diemens Land

6 April 1841 - 7 July 1841

Event - At Hobart Town, Van Diemens Land

14 July 1841 - 5 August 1841

Event - At Port Jackson, New South Wales

18 August 1841 - 23 November 1841

Event - At Bay of Islands, New Zealand

4 September 1843 -

Event - Arrived at Folkestone, United Kingdom

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Hooker, J. D., The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839 - 1843, part 2: flora novae-zealandiea, vol. 1-2 (London: Reeve Bros, 1852 - 1855). Details
• Hooker, J. D., The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839 - 1843, part 3: flora tasmaniae, vol. 1-2 (London: Reeve Bros, 1855 - 1859). Details
• Hooker, Joseph Dalton Sir, The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror, in the years 1839-1843, part 1: flora antarctica, vol. 1-2 (London: Reeve, 1844 - 1847). 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

Edited Books

• Richardson, John and Grey, John Edward eds, The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Erebus and Terror, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, R.N., F.R.S., during the years 1839 to 1843, vol. 1-2 (London: E. W. Janson, 1844 - 1875). Details

Journal Articles

• Brook, Martin S. and Ferrar, Susanna, 'Hartley Travers Ferrar (1879 - 1932) and his geological legacy in Antarctica, Egypt and New Zealand', Earth sciences history, 38 (1) (2019), 43-58. https://doi.org/10.17704/1944-6178-38.1.43. Details
• Campbell, R. J., 'The voyage of HMS Erebus and Terror to the southern and Antarctic regions 1839 - 1843: the journal of Sergeant William Keating, HMS Terror', Polar record, 46 (2) (2010), 180-4. Details
• Davenport, J.; and Fogg, G. E., 'The invertebrate collections of the Erebus and Terror Antarctic expedition: a lost opportunity', Polar record, 25 (1989), 323-7. Details
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Stone, Philip, 'Robert McCormick's geological collections from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, 1839 - 1843', Archives of natural history, 47 (1) (2020), 147-65. Details

See also

• Brosse, Jacques; translated by Hochman, Stanley, Great voyages of exploration: the golden age of discovery in the Pacific (Lane Cove, N.S.W.: Doubleday Australia, 1983), 228 pp. Details
• Cawood, John, 'The magnetic crusade: science and politics in early Victorian Britain', Isis, 70 (4) (1979), 492-518. 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
• McCormick, R., Voyages of discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic seas, and around the world, vol. 1-2 (London: Longman, 1884). 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 157. Details
• Rice, A. L., British oceanographic vessels 1800 - 1950 (London: Ray Society, 1986), 193 pp. Details
• Ross, Maurice J., Polar pioneers: John Ross and James Clark Ross (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994), 435 pp. Details
• Savours, A., 'Hobart and the polar regions, 1830 - 1930' in Tasmanian insights: essays in honour of Geoffrey Thomas Stilwell, Winters, Gillian, ed. (Hobart: State Library of Tasmania, 1992), pp. 175-91. Details
• Savours, Ann, 'Sir James Clark Ross', Geographical journal, 128 (1962), 325-7. Details