PARRY (Sir William E., 1790-1855, Admiral, Arctic Explorer)

Fine Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed correspondent saying that he has a “dinner engagement every day till the 13th, I wrote to Captain Lyon to ask if he could accept your very kind invitation on that day... I now enclose his reply, and can only say that on any day after the 20th (except the 28th) I shall be most happy to wait upon you, Lyon in Co^y...” 1 side 8vo., Admiralty, no date

Captain George Francis LYON (1796-1832) was an English naval officer and explorer of Africa and the Arctic. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the pencil drawings he completed in the Arctic; this information was useful to later expeditions. in 1821, he was given the command of HMS Hecla under William Edward Parry on his second attempt at the Northwest Passage.
In early 1819 HMS Hecia was converted to an Arctic exploration ship and made three journeys to the Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage, and made one attempt on the North Pole, all under Lieutenant William Edward Parry or Commander Lyon, and spent many winters iced in without serious damage. On her second expedition, from May 1821 until November 1823, Hecla was under Lyon's command while Parry led the overall expedition from her sister ship Fury. The furthest point on this trip, the perpetually frozen strait between Foxe Basin and the Gulf of Boothia, was named after the two ships: Fury and Hecla Strait.

Item Date:  0

Stock No:  41908      £275

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