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Edward Bransfield (1785 – 1852) was a master in the Royal Navy and arguably the discoverer of the continent of Antarctica. 1785 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ...

Early life

Edward Bransfield was born in Ballinacurra, County Cork, Ireland, in c.1785. Very little is known about his early life; we do not even know what he looked like. In 1803, when he was just eighteen years old, he was impressed into the Royal Navy—the principal method of recruitmeactually no way!{| class=woo"wikitable" |- ! header 1 ! header 2 ! header 3 |- | row 1, cell 1 | row 1, cell 2 | row 1, cell 3 |- | row 2, cell 1 | row 2, cell 2 | row 2, cell 3 |} He began as an ordinary seaman on the 1st rate ship of the line (110 guns) Ville de Paris, and was rated as an able seaman in 1805. He was appointed to the 1st rate ship of the line (110 guns) Royal Sovereign (which had taken part in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805) in 1806 as an Able Seaman, then 2nd Master's Mate in 1808, Midshipman in 1808, Clerk in 1809 and Midshipman again in 1811. By 1812 he had achieved the rank of 2nd master, and in the same year he was made acting master on the Goldfinch (brig-sloop of the Cherokee class with 10 guns and commanded by The Rt Hon Sir William Cornwallis). 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Look up Impressment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Between the years 1814 and 1816 he served briefly, as Master (i.e. Navigator) on many 5th rate ships (36/38 guns) and, on 21 February 1816, was appointed Master of the ship "Severn" (4th rate ship with 50 guns) in which he took part in the Bombardment of Algiers. February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

In September 1817, he was appointed Master (i.e. navigator) of the Andromache under the command of Captain W H Shirreff. It was during this tour of duty that he was posted to the Royal Navy's new Pacific Squadron off Valparaíso in Chile. 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... A navigator is the person onboard a ship responsible for the navigation of the vessel. ... Port of Valparaíso, Chile Valparaíso is an important Chilean seaport and an increasingly vital cultural center. ...

Chile was fighting for her independence from Spain, but Valparaíso had been neglected during the colonial period and was a mean, uninviting place. Nevertheless, if it had not been for this commission, Bransfield would never have been able to take his place in history.

Antarctica

In 1773 James Cook sailed beyond the Antarctic Circle—noting with pride in his journal that he was "undoubtedly the first that ever crossed that line.". The following year, he completely circumnavigated Antarctica and reached a latitude of 71° 10', before being driven back by the ice. It was the furthest south anyone had ever gone. 1773 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ...

Although he failed to catch a glimpse of Antarctica, Cook dispelled once and for all the fanciful notion of a fertile, populous continent surrounding the pole. Not surprisingly, the British Admiralty lost interest in the Antarctic and turned its attention instead to the ongoing search for the Northwest Passage. Almost half a century passed before anyone else travelled as far south as Cook. Popular Northwest Passage routes through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago This article describes the route through the Canadian Arctic. ...

Then in 1819 while rounding Cape Horn, William Smith, the skipper of an English merchant ship, the Williams, was driven south by adverse winds and discovered what came to be known as the South Shetland Islands. (The South Shetland Islands had previously been discovered by the Spaniard Gabriel de Castilla in March 1603, and possibly four years before that by the Dutchman Dirck Gerritsz.) Cape Horn from the South. ... William Smith (born c. ... The South Shetland Islands or Iles Shetland du Sud or Islas Shetland del Sur or New South Britain or New South Shetland or Shetland Islands or South Shetlands or Sydshetland or Süd-Shetland Inseln are a chain of islands in the Southern Ocean lying about 120 kilometres northward of... Gabriel de Castilla (1577-1620), was a sailor and Spanish explorer. ... Year 1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

When news of his discovery reached Valparaíso, Captain Shirreff decided that the matter warranted further investigation. The Williams was chartered and Shirreff appointed Bransfield, two midshipmen and the surgeon from the ship HMS Slaney, who were dispatched to survey the newly discovered islands. Smith remained aboard, acting as Bransfield's pilot.

After a brief and uneventful voyage into the Southern Ocean, Bransfield and Smith reached the South Shetland Islands. Bransfield landed on King George Island and took formal possession on behalf of King George III (he died the day before on January 29, 1820), before proceeding in a south-westerly direction past Deception Island not investigating or charting it. Turning south, he crossed what is now known as the Bransfield Strait (named for him by James Weddell in 1822), and on January 30, 1820 sighted Trinity Peninsula, the northernmost point of the Antarctic mainland. "Such was the discovery of Antarctica," writes the English writer Roland Huntford. Unknown to Bransfield, two days earlier, January 28, 1820, the Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen logged the sighting of an icy shoreline at a point that is now known to have been East Antarctica. Based on this sighting, a claim has been made on behalf of Bellingshausen that he should be credited with the discovery of the continent. Location of King George Island Map of King George Island King George Island (Argentina: Isla 25 de Mayo, Chile: Isla Rey Jorge, Russian historical name - Vaterlo (Waterloo)) is the largest of the South Shetland Islands, situated at , 120 kilometers off the coast of Antarctica in the Southern Ocean. ... George III (George William Frederick) (4 June 1738–29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain, and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until 1 January 1801, and thereafter King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. ... January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Deception Island is an island in the South Shetland Islands off the Antarctic Peninsula in Antarctica. ... Bransfield Strait (63°0′ S 59°0′ W) is a body of water about 60 miles wide extending for 200 miles in a general northeast-southwest direction between the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula. ... January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Trinity Peninsula ( 63°37′ S 058°20′ W) is the extreme northeast portion of the Antarctic Peninsula, extending northeastward for about 130 km (80 mi) from a line connecting Cape Kater and Cape Longing. ... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (also known as Russian: ; Faddey Faddeyevich Bellinsgauzen) (September 20, 1778–January 13, 1852) served as a naval officer of the Russian Empire and commanded the second Russian expedition to circumnavigate the globe. ...

Bransfield made a note in his log of two "high mountains, covered with snow", one of which was subsequently named Mount Bransfield, by Dumont D'Urville, in his honour. Unlike Bellingshausen, Bransfield discovered unambiguous geological formations that could not be confused with pack ice.

Having charted a segment of the Trinity Peninsula, Bransfield then followed the edge of the icesheet in a north-easterly direction and discovered various points on Elephant Island and Clarence Island, which he also formally claimed for the British Crown. He did not sail around Elephant Island and did not name it (it is named for elephant seals), although he fully charted Clarence Island. A NASA satellite photograph of Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands in the Southern Ocean. ... A map of the South Shetland Islands Clarence Island (61°12′ S 054°05′ W) is 18 km (12 mi) long and the easternmost of the South Shetland Islands. ...

When Bransfield finally arrived back in Valparaíso he handed over his charts and journal to Captain Shirreff who delivered them to the Admiralty. The original charts are still in the possession of the Hydrographic department in Taunton, Somerset, but Bransfield's journal has been lost. The Admiralty, it seems, was still more interested in the search for the Northwest Passage. However, two private accounts of Bransfield's historic voyage were published in 1821. Popular Northwest Passage routes through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago This article describes the route through the Canadian Arctic. ...

In recent years the journal of one of the midshipmen, Charles Poynter, was discovered in New Zealand and an account has been published by the Hakluyt Society, edited by Richard Campbell, RN.

See also: History of Antarctica

Antarctica has no indigenous population, and so the human history of Antarctica does not begin until the 19th century, when the continent was first seen. ...

Later life

The remainder of Edward Bransfield's life was passed in obscurity. He died in 1852 in his sixty-seventh year and was buried in Brighton, England. His wife survived him and was buried in the same grave in 1863. In 2000 the Royal Mail issued a commemorative stamp in his honour, but as no likeness of the discoverer of Antarctica could be found, the stamp depicted instead RRS Bransfield, an Antarctic surveying vessel named after him. In 1999 Edward Bransfield's grave, discovered in a sadly deteriorated state a in Brighton churchyard, was renovated (funded by charitable donations) by Sheila Bransfield, who aspires to be Edward Bransfield's official biographer. The event was marked by a ceremony attended by numerous dignitaries. Brighton is located on the south coast of England, and together with its immediate neighbour Hove forms the city of Brighton and Hove. ...

See also

• Nathaniel Palmer, the first American to see Antarctica, on November 17, 1820
• Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
• History of Antarctica
• Livingston Island

Nathaniel Brown Palmer (1799 - 1877) was a sailor in the United States Navy. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (also known as Russian: ; Faddey Faddeyevich Bellinsgauzen) (September 20, 1778–January 13, 1852) served as a naval officer of the Russian Empire and commanded the second Russian expedition to circumnavigate the globe. ... Antarctica has no indigenous population, and so the human history of Antarctica does not begin until the 19th century, when the continent was first seen. ... Livingston Island (62°36′ S 060°30′ W) is 61 km (38 mi) long and from 3 to 32 km (2 to 20 mi) wide, lying between Greenwich and Snow Islands in the South Shetland Islands. ...

References

• Edinburgh Philosophical Journal (April 1821)
• London Literary Gazette (November 1821)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica (14th edition, 1962)
• Geographical Journal (October 1939)
• Mariner's Mirror (July 1941)
• Huntford, Roland (1985). The Last Place on Earth. Pan Books Ltd., London. ISBN 0-330-28816-4. 
• "The Discovery of the South Shetland Islands 1819-1820: The Journal of Midshipman C W Poynter" (Hakluyt Society, London 2000) R J Campbell (Editor)
• "The Antarctic Problem: An Historical and Political Study" (George Allen & Unwin, London 1951), E W Hunter Christie.
• "Below the Convergence: Voyages Towards Antarctica 1699-1839" (W W Norton Co Ltd, London, 1977), Alan Gurney.
• "Antarctica Observed - Who Discovered the Antarctic Continent?" (Caedmon of Whitby, North Yorkshire, 1982) A G E Jones
• "The Bombardment of Algiers, 1816" from 'History Today' January 1978, Derek Severn.
• "The Role of Edward Bransfield in the Discovery of Antarctica", Greenwich Maritime Institute, (Dissertation submitted towards the MA in Maritime History, 2002), Sheila Bransfield MA