James Clark Ross

[edit] Americola's celebrity biographies are provided by AmericolaWiki, a celebrity wiki. You can help contribute to Americola and edit this article.

Sir James Clark Ross (April 15, 1800 – April 3, 1862), was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.

Ross was born in London. He entered the navy in 1812 under John Ross, whom he accompanied on his first Arctic voyage in search of a Northwest Passage in 1818. Between 1819 and 1827 he took part in four Arctic expeditions under Parry, and in 1829 to 1833 again served under his uncle. It was during this trip that they located the position of the North Magnetic Pole on June 1, 1831.

In 1834 Ross was promoted to captain, and from 1835 to 1838 he was employed on the magnetic survey of Great Britain. Between 1839 and 1843 he commanded the Antarctic expedition of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror which charted much of the coastline of the continent. In 1841, he discovered the Ross Sea, Victoria Land, and the volcanoes Mount Erebus and Mount Terror. The Victoria Barrier later gained the name "Ross Ice Shelf" in his honour.

On his return Ross was knighted, and was nominated to the French order of the Legion d'Honneur. In 1847 he published his account of the expedition under the title of A Voyage of Discovery and Research to Southern and Antarctic Regions. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1848, and in that year made his last expedition, as captain of HMS Enterprise, in the first expedition in search of Franklin. James was married to Lady Ann Ross whose nickname was "Thing". He died at Aylesbury in 1862, five years after his wife.

A blue plaque marks Ross's home in Blackheath, London.

Homages

James Clark Ross is the name of a British Antarctic Survey ship.

Ross crater on the Moon is jointly named for him and Frank Elmore Ross.

References

• The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration From Frobisher to Ross E C Coleman 2006 ISBN 0-7524-3660-0
• The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration From Franklin to Scott E C Coleman 2006cs:James Clark Ross

de:James Clark Ross es:James Clark Ross fr:James Clark Ross gl:James Clark Ross it:James Clark Ross he:ג'יימס קלארק רוס nl:James Clark Ross ja:ジェイムズ・クラーク・ロス pl:James Clark Ross pt:James Clark Ross sl:James Clark Ross fi:James Clark Ross sv:James Clark Ross

Wikipedia information about James Clark Ross This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "James Clark Ross". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.