View source for Leopold McClintock

{{Short description|Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
 |honorific_prefix   = Sir
 |name               = Leopold McClintock
 |honorific_suffix   = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|FRS|size=100%}}
 |image              = Captain Sir Leopold McClintock (profile).jpg
 |image_upright      = 1.1
 |caption            = McClintock {{circa|1860}}
 |office             = [[North America and West Indies Station]]
 |term_label         = Commander-in-Chief
 |term               = {{start and end dates|1879|11|27|1882|11|07|df=y}}
 |predecessor        = [[Edward Augustus Inglefield|Sir Edward Inglefield]]
 |successor          = [[John Edmund Commerell|Sir John Commerell]]
 |office2            = [[Jamaica Division]]
 |term_label2        = Commodore
 |term2              = {{start and end dates|1865|09|06|1868|02|21|df=y}}
 |predecessor2       = [[Algernon de Horsey|Sir Algernon de Horsey]]
 |successor2         = [[Augustus Phillimore|Sir Augustus Phillimore]]
 |birth_name         = Francis Leopold McClintock
 |birth_date         = {{birth date|1819|07|08|df=y}}
 |birth_place        = {{nowrap|[[Dundalk]], [[County Louth]], Ireland}}
 |death_date         = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1907|11|17|1819|07|09|df=y}}}}
 |death_place        = [[Kensington]], [[London]], England
 |resting_place      = [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Cemetery, Hanwell|Hanwell Cemetery]]
 |spouse             = {{marriage|Annette Dunlop|1870}}
 |children           = [[John McClintock (Royal Navy officer)|John William McClintock]]
 |awards             = {{indented plainlist|
* [[Royal Geographical Society's Patron's Medal]] (1860)
* [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] (1891)}}
 |branch_label       = Branch
 |allegiance= {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
 |branch             = {{navy|United Kingdom|size=20px}}
 |serviceyears_label = Service&nbsp;years
 |serviceyears       = 1835–1884
 |rank               = [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]]
 |military_blank1    = Expeditions
 |military_data1     = [[McClintock Arctic expedition]]
}}

'''Sir Francis Leopold McClintock''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|FRS}} (8 July 1819&nbsp;– 17 November 1907) was an Irish explorer in the British [[Royal Navy]], known for his discoveries in the [[Canadian Arctic Archipelago]]. He confirmed explorer [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]]'s controversial report gathered from [[Inuit]] sources on the fate of [[Franklin's lost expedition]], the ill-fated Royal Navy undertaking commanded by Sir [[John Franklin]] in 1845 attempting to be the first to traverse the [[Northwest Passage]].

McClintock's report was received more favorably than that of Rae, who was shunned and denied recognition for having discovered the lost expedition's fate. Rae's report ultimately guided McClintock to the correct area to conduct a search. McClintock also stirred controversy with his claim that Franklin, before his death, had essentially discovered the Northwest Passage, while in reality he had not. Rae, with his discovery of [[Rae Strait]], had discovered the real ice-free passage through North America's Arctic archipelago.

==Early life==
McClintock was born on 8 July 1819, one of 14&nbsp;children of Henry McClintock, a collector of customs at [[Dundalk]] in [[County Louth]], Ireland, and his wife Elizabeth Melesina {{nee|Fleury}}. He was the second oldest son, although the eldest died somewhere in the Caribbean, aged over 40.

The family was well connected; McClintock's uncle, [[John McClintock (1770–1855)|John McClintock]], was a Member of Parliament for County Louth and owned [[Drumcar House]].{{sfn|Murphy|2004|p=6}}

==Arctic exploration==
In July 1831, aged just 12 years old, he joined HMS Samarang at Portsmouth, as a Gentleman Volunteer. The Captain was Capt. Charles Paget (who would later marry one of his sisters, Emily Caroline) and the Lieutenant was a relation, William McClintock-Bunbury, whose son Thomas later became 2nd Lord Rathdonnell . In 1843 he passed his examination for lieutenancy and joined the steamship "Gorgon", which was driven ashore at [[Montevideo]] and salvaged, a feat of seamanship on the part of her captain and officers that attracted much attention. Hitherto, until 1847, McClintock's service was almost wholly on the American coasts.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

McClintock joined a series of searches for Sir [[John Franklin]] between 1848 and 1859. He mastered travel through the [[manhauling]] of sledges, which remained the standard practice when it came to overland travel in icy territory in the Royal Navy, until the death of [[Robert Falcon Scott]] in his bid to reach the [[South Pole]] in 1912.

In 1848, McClintock accompanied [[James Clark Ross]] on his survey of [[Somerset Island (Nunavut)|Somerset Island]]. As part of Captain [[Henry Kellett]]'s expedition from 1852 to 1854, McClintock travelled {{convert|1400|mi}} by sled and discovered {{convert|800|mi}} of previously unknown coastline.<ref>{{cite book|last=Farley|first=F. M.|author-link=Farley Mowat|date=1973|title=Ordeal by Ice: The Search for the Northwest Passage|location=Toronto|publisher=McClelland and Stewart|oclc=1391959|page=288}}</ref>

===Fate of Franklin's expedition===
[[File:McClintock02.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=|{{ship||Fox|ship|2}} on a rock near {{as written|Buchan}} Island]]
In 1854, explorer [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]] travelled west from [[Repulse Bay, Nunavut|Repulse Bay]], on the northern shores of [[Hudson Bay]], and learned from the Inuit that a ship had been abandoned somewhere to the west. Previous expeditions had not searched the area because they thought it was ice-blocked. In April&nbsp;1857, at Lady [[Jane Franklin]]'s request, McClintock agreed to take command of the {{ship||Fox|ship|2}} and led a 25-man crew in a new search for [[Franklin's lost expedition]] in the area west of Repulse Bay. At [[Disko Bay]] on the west coast of [[Greenland]], he hired 30&nbsp;sled dogs and an [[Inuit]] driver. It was a bad year for ice, and from September the ''Fox'' was beset in the ice for eight months. The following year was another disappointment, and he did not reach [[Beechey Island]] until August&nbsp;1858. He entered [[Peel Sound]], found it blocked by ice, backed up, and entered [[Prince Regent Inlet]] in the hope of passing [[Bellot Strait]]. He was glad to extricate himself from this narrow passage and found winter quarters near its entrance.

In February 1859, when sledging became practical, he went south to the [[North Magnetic Pole]] – which had been found by [[James Clark Ross]] in 1831. Here he met some Inuit who told him that a ship had been crushed by ice off [[King William Island]], the crew had landed safely and that some white people had starved to death on an island. In April, he went south again and on the east coast of King William Island met other Inuit who sold him artefacts from Franklin's expedition. William Hobson, who had separated from him, found the only written record left by Franklin's expedition buried under a cairn on the northwest corner of the island. The document recorded Sir [[John Franklin]]'s death on 11&nbsp;June 1847, and also intimated [[Francis Crozier]] and [[James Fitzjames]]' plan to lead the survivors south toward the North American mainland. They also found a skeleton with European clothes and a ship's boat on runners containing two corpses. They got as far south as [[Montreal Island (Nunavut)|Montreal Island]] and the mouth of the [[Back River (Nunavut)|Back's Great Fish River]].

[[File:McClintock00.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Discovery of the remains of the cairn]]
McClintock returned to England in September 1859, and was hailed as the discoverer of the lost expedition's fate. In addition to being knighted, the officers and men of the ''Fox'' shared a £5,000&nbsp;parliamentary reward. The tale was published in ''The Voyage of the 'Fox' in the Arctic seas: a narrative of the discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin and his companions''. McClintock's findings were of special importance for the subsequent romantification of John Franklin's figure in British culture, since the establishment of his date of death as having occurred before the ships' abandonment and the crew's failed trek south, firmly acquitted the veteran sailor from any suspicion of [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]]. This had been a concern since 1854, when Rae had arrived back to London with shocking reports from Inuit sources that had greatly scandalized Victorian society, particularly Lady Franklin.

McClintock's writings, on the other hand, were obsequious towards Franklin, even going so far as to celebrate his "virtual completion" of the [[Northwest Passage]], even though {{HMS|Erebus|1826|2}} and {{HMS|Terror|1813|2}} never sailed through [[Rae Strait]], the only truly navigable passageway – for a 19th-century ship – that would have allowed sailing along North America's northern Arctic coastline all the way into the Pacific.{{sfn|McGoogan|2002|p=}}

===''Bulldog'' sounding expedition===
In 1860, McClintock took command of the [[paddle steamer]] ''Bulldog'' as part of an expedition to determine the feasibility of carrying a [[telegraph line]] from Europe to America via the [[Faroe Islands]], [[Iceland]], and [[Greenland]]. The ''Fox'', commanded by [[Allen Young]] who had already accompanied McClintock on the search Franklin as sailing master, also took part. The northern telegraph route was a proposition by Colonel [[Taliaferro Preston Shaffner|Taliaferro Shaffner]]. Although McClintock reported in favour of executing the plan, it never came to fruition.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Great Atlantic Telegraph; successful expedition of the Bulldog and Fox to establish a telegraph route between Europe and America; important scientific discoveries |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1860/12/20/archives/the-great-atlantic-telegraph-successful-expedition-of-the-bulldog-a.html |work=New York Times |date=20 December 1860 |page=2}}</ref>

==Later life==
In 1865 McClintock was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} From 1865 to 1868, he was appointed Commodore [[Jamaica Division (North America and West Indies Station)|Jamaica Division]], and he superintended [[Jamaica Dockyard]]. From 1872 to 1877, McClintock was [[admiral-superintendent]] of [[HMNB Portsmouth|Portsmouth Dockyard]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=M'CLINTOCK, Francis Leopold|magazine=Who's Who|year=1907|volume= 59|page=1107|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEcuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1107}}</ref> In 1879, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the [[North America and West Indies Station]] aboard the flagship {{HMS|Northampton|1876|6}}.<ref>[http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowCommanders.php William Loney RN]</ref> McClintock retired from the Royal Navy in 1884 as a rear admiral. In 1882 he was elected an Elder Brother of [[Trinity House]], and served actively in that capacity.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He died on 17 November 1907<ref>{{cite news |title=Admiral McClintock Dead; British Officer Who Discovered Sir John Franklin's Fate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1907/11/18/archives/admiral-mcclintock-dead-british-officer-who-discovered-sir-john.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=18 November 1907 |access-date=25 July 2010 }}</ref> and was buried at [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Cemetery, Hanwell|Kensington Cemetery]].<ref>[http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27mcclintock%27%29 Library and Archive catalogue] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726013448/http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27mcclintock%27%29 |date=26 July 2011 }} Royal Society</ref>

==Family==
McClintock unsuccessfully contested a seat in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]] for the borough of [[Drogheda (UK Parliament constituency)|Drogheda]], but while there he made the acquaintance of Annette Delap, (later changed to Dunlop) and married her in 1870.  She was the daughter of Robert Foster Delap (1809–1875) and Hon. Anna Elizabeth Foster (later Skeffington) 1817-1901.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Robert Foster Delap's father, William Drummond Delap, changed their surname to Dunlop in 1861 by Special Licence.There were five children, including:
* Henry Foster McClintock, (1871–1959)
* [[John McClintock (Royal Navy officer)|John William Leopold McClintock]] (1874–1929), Vice-Admiral, RN
* Col. Robert S. McClintock. CMG, DSO (1876–1967), who married Mary Elphinstone, the youngest daughter of Major General Sir [[Howard Craufurd Elphinstone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Sir Howard and Lady Elphinstone|url=http://www.bagshotvillage.org.uk/people/elphin.shtml|website=Bagshot Village}}</ref>
* Anna Elizabeth McClintock, (1873–1957) who married in 1902 [[Greenwell baronets|Sir Bernard Eyre Greenwell, 2nd Baronet]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Marriages|date=22 November 1902 |page=1 |issue=36932}}</ref>
* Elizabeth Florence Mary (Bessie) (1882–1913) died unmarried.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{EB1911|wstitle=McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold|volume=17|page=204}}
* {{cite book|last = McGoogan|first = K.|date = 2002|title = Fatal passage: the story of John Rae, the Arctic hero time forgot|location = New York|publisher = [[Carroll & Graf]]|isbn = 9780786709939|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/fatalpassagetrue00mcgo}}
* {{cite book|last=Murphy|first=D.|date=2004|title=The Arctic Fox: Francis Leopold-McClintock, Discoverer of the Fate of Franklin|url=https://archive.org/details/arcticfoxfrancis0000murp|url-access=registration|location=Toronto|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=9781554883080}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite NBD1849 |wstitle= McClintock, Francis Leopold |volume= 14.1 |last= O'Byrne|first= William Richard |author-link= William Richard O'Byrne| page= 690 |year=1849 |short=1}}
* {{cite DNB12 |wstitle= McClintock, Francis Leopold |volume= 2 |first= L.G.C. |last= Laughton |author-link=|pages= 506-507 |year=1912|short=1}}
* {{cite book|last = Coleman|first = E. C.|date = 2007|title = The Royal Navy and polar exploration: from Franklin to Scott|location = Stroud|publisher = Tempus|isbn = 9780752442075}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|2=Leopold&nbsp;McClintock}}
{{Wikisource author|2=Leopold McClintock}}
* {{BHL author}}
* {{Librivox author|id=10004}}
* {{OL author}}
* {{Gutenberg author|id=38985|name=Leopold McClintock}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Francis Leopold McClintock}}

{{Polar exploration|state=collapsed}}
{{Royal Navy Arctic exploration}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClintock, Leopold}}
[[Category:1819 births]]
[[Category:1907 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials in England]]
[[Category:Military personnel from County Louth]]
[[Category:Explorers of the Arctic]]
[[Category:Explorers of Canada]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Irish Arctic explorers]]
[[Category:Irish explorers of North America]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:McClintock family|Leopold]]
[[Category:People from Dundalk]]
[[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]]
[[Category:Royal Navy rear admirals]]
[[Category:Irish officers in the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:19th-century Irish explorers]]