Francis Crozier

Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier (September 1796–1848?) was born in the Kingdom of Ireland and was a British naval officer who participated in six exploratory expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.He was named after Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings who was one of his father's friends.

Early life

He was born at Avonmore House which stands today opposite his large memorial in Church Square Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland, the fifth son of the attorney-at-law George Crozier, Esq. His ancestors were of Norman descent and first emerged when they joined the armies of William the Conqueror to invade England in 1066. John Crozier came to Ireland in 1630 with Lord Strafford prior to that he came from Redworth Hall, County Durham and his family had been their since 1407. He attended school in Banbridge with his brothers William and Thomas. At the age of thirteen he volunteered for the Royal Navy and joined HMS Hamadryad in June 1810. In 1812 he served on HMS Briton and in 1814 visited Pitcairn Island where he met the last surviving mutineers from HMS Bounty.

In 1817 he received his certificate as Mate and in 1818 he served on the sloop Dotterel during a trip to the Cape of Good Hope. In 1821 Crozier volunteered to join Captain William Edward Parry's second expedition (1821-23) to find the Northwest Passage in the vessels HMS Fury and her sister ship HMS Hecla. He returned to the Arctic with Parry in 1824, which resulted in the loss of Fury off Somerset Island. Crozier was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1826 and in 1827 joined Parry's failed attempt to reach the North Pole. During his voyages Crozier became a close friend and confidante of the explorer, James Clark Ross.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1827 after conducting valuable astronomical and magnetic studies on his three expeditions with Parry. He was appointed to the frigate, HMS Stag in 1831 and served off the coast of Portugal during that country's civil war.

Crozier joined James Clark Ross as second-in-command of Cove in 1835 to help search for 12 British whaleships lost in the Arctic. Crozier was appointed to the rank of Commander in 1837.

Antarctic exploration

In 1839 Crozier again joined James Clark Ross, as second-in-command of a four-year voyage to explore the Antarctic Continent in the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Crozier commanded Terror and in 1841 was appointed to the rank of Captain. Erebus and Terror returned in 1843, having made the most significant penetration of the Antarctic pack ice and discovered large parts of the continent which became synonymous with the 20th century's Heroic Age of Exploration under Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton - including the Ross Sea and Ross Island, Mount Erebus and the Ross Ice Shelf.

Crozier was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1843 in recognition of his outstanding work on magnetism.

Northwest Passage Expedition

In 1845 he joined Sir John Franklin on the Northwest Passage Expedition as captain of HMS Terror. Following Franklin's death in June, 1847 he took command of the expedition. He presumably perished in the Arctic region in 1848, and the fate of him and the other expedition members remained a mystery until his record was discovered in 1859 by Captain F. L. McClintock.

Crozier is the main protagonist in the historical novel "The Terror" by Dan Simmons (2007). The book concerns the Franklin Expedition, adding a rather fantastical element to the proceedings.

Tributes

• Cape Crozier on the eastern side of Ross Island, Antarctica.
• Cape Crozier on the western flank of King William Island in the Arctic.
• Cape Crozier at the western entrance of the Bay of Mercy on Banks Island in the Arctic.
• Crozier Strait which lies between Cornwallis and Bathurst Islands.
• The Crozier River which is found near Fury and Hecla Strait.
• Crozier Point on Spitsbergen.
• Crozier Channel, to the north of Banks Island.
• Crozier Island in the Arctic Kennedy Channel.
• Crozier crater, located at 13.5°S 50.8°E on the Moon's near side.

References

• Smith, Michael (2006). Captain Francis Crozier - Last Man Standing?. Collins Press, Cork. ISBN 1905172095.

External links

• Crozier Banbridge — Craigavon Historical Society
• CFSSUK [1] Mary Fraser, from the Scots Highlands, was Crozier's Great Grandmother, said to be a close cousin of The Fox, the then Lord Lovat, she married a John Crozier in 1694. Members of Clan Fraser were important in developing Canada's trade routes.