Life and work
William Edward Parry
1790–1855
A winter in the ice at Melville Island
In 1819 William Edward Parry took Hecla and Griper through Lancaster Sound in search of a passage to the Pacific. When the ice closed around Melville Island, the crews cut their way into Winter Harbour and prepared to stay.
Return to the editions ↓English editions in preparation
The AETERNUS edition follows the text of 1821 and includes twenty plates and charts, a chronology and a glossary.
Publication details will follow after approval.
Life and work
A life in context
The voyage changed pace when the ships stopped. Parry’s journal turns from the distance made under sail to the work of keeping a crew healthy and occupied through an Arctic winter.
Explore the life and work
Origins and early years
Parry entered the Royal Navy in 1803. In 1818 he commanded Alexander on John Ross’s Arctic expedition. The Admiralty gave him command of a new expedition the following year.
The course of a life
Parry led further Arctic voyages and became Hydrographer to the Admiralty in 1825. In 1827 he set out on an expedition towards the North Pole.
The literary work
The journal records the search for a sea route alongside the weather, the condition of the ice and the daily life of the crews. Parry’s meteorological notes from Hecla survive in the National Maritime Museum.
The legacy
The account of Winter Harbour shows what an expedition had to do when the next stage of the voyage was beyond its control.