Edward Parry - 1819-1820, 1821-1823, 1824-1825

Edward Parry

 Accomplishments:

• on his first voyage, Parry entered Lancaster Sound and found it to be a strait
• he followed the north shore as far west as Maxwell Bay where he was stopped by ice
• Parry then turned south to discover Prince Regent Inlet while charting its eastern shore
• after following the Baffin Island coast to Fitzgerald Bay, Parry was once again stopped by ice and forced to return north to Lancaster Sound and Barrow Strait
• he was able to cross the entrance to Wellington Channel this time due to improved ice conditions and continued west to discover Cornwallis, Bathurst, Byam Martin and Melville Islands and the smaller islands lying off their southern coasts
• Parry also sighted and named Somerset and Prince Leopold Islands and Cape Walker at the eastern end of Russell Island
• the expedition was forced by ice to turn back at Viscount Melville Sound and set up camp for the winter at Winter Harbor
• in the summer, Banks Island was sighted and named and on the return trip Admiralty and Navy Board Inlets were discovered. Pond Inlet and some of the other large fiords on the east Baffin coast were visited
• on his second voyage, Parry established that there was no western outlet from Repulse Bay after having travelled along Baffin Island to the entrance of Foxe Channel, along the NE coast of Southampton Island and through Frozen Strait
• he then explored the coast of Melville Peninsula northward to Fury and Hecla Strait and westward along that waterway to within sight of Cape Hallowell and the Gulf of Boothia, this area being mapped in great detail
• on his third voyage, some of Parry's men explored the coast of Port Bowen on Brodeur Peninsula while others charted the Baffin Island coast southward from Port Bowen to Fitzgerald Bay
• one of the boats, the Fury, was badly damaged by ice and abandoned in August while the other ship sailed as far as Creswell Bay to sight Cape Garry
• crews of both ships then re-crossed Prince Regent Inlet to Port Neill on the Baffin Island Coast where detailed surveys were made of this harbour

Interesting Facts:

• on the first voyage, Parry's expedition almost reached the 113th meridian and qualified for the 5,000 pounds prize offered by the Board of Longitude to the first vessel to cross the 110th meridian in high northern latitudes

  View Voyage Route

Information taken from Arctic Canada, Volume I, Third Edition, 1982

Image courtesy of the NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF CANADA/C-16489