James Weddell (August 24, 1787 - September 9, 1834) was an English navigator, sealer, and explorer of the antarctic. August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 1834 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. ... For other uses, see Antarctica (disambiguation). ...

Early life

He entered the merchant service very early in his life and was apparently bound to the master of a Newcastle collier (a coal transport vessel) for some years. About 1805 he shipped on board a merchantman trading to the West Indies, making several voyages there. James Weddell married Sarah Pease. This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ... Collier may refer to: a bulk cargo ship that carried coal. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ...

In 1820 he volunteered for service in the Royal Navy and subsequently served on several ships. He was aboard the Hope when in 1813 in the English Channel she captured the True Blooded Yankee, an American privateer. With the end of the Napoleonic War he was laid off on half pay in February 1816, and for a while resumed merchant voyages to the West Indies. 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (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). ... 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Map of the English Channel Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche (IPA: ), the sleeve) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... A privateer was a private ship (or its captain) authorized by a countrys government to attack and seize cargo from another countrys ships. ... The Napoleonic Wars lasted from 1804 until 1815. ... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Voyages to the antarctic

In 1819 Weddell was introduced to James Strachan, a shipbuilder of Leith, who together with James Mitchell, a London insurance broker, owned the 160-ton brig Jane, an American-built ship taken during the war of 1812 and re-fitted for sealing. News of the discovery of the South Shetland Islands had just broken, and Weddell suggested that fortunes might be made in the new sealing grounds. His first voyage as the captain of the Jane took him to the Falkland Islands and further south. He returned with the holds full, and the voyage was so profitable, that Strachan and Mitchell had a second ship, the Beaufroy, built. 1819 common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Brig Lady Washington For other uses, see Brig (disambiguation). ... 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...

The next voyage from 1821 and 1822 took both ships to the South Shetland Islands. However, there were some 45 sealers operating in the area and seal were already becoming rare (a mere two years after the discovery of the islands!), and so he scouted for new hunting grounds. Micheal McCleod, the captain of the Beaufroy, sighted the South Orkney Islands on November 22, 1821, an independent discovery from that of Powell just a few days earlier. There, they hunted for seals, and arrived back in England in July. The coronation banquet for George IV 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1822 (MDCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 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... subfamilies Otariidae Phocidae Odobenidae Pinnipeds are large marine mammals belonging to the Pinnipedia, a family (sometimes a suborder or superfamily, depending on the classification scheme) of the order Carnivora. ... The South Orkney Islands (Spanish: Islas Orcadas) are a group of sub-antarctic islands situated at latitudes 60°50 to 60°83 S, and longitudes 44°25 to 46°25 W in the Southern Ocean. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The coronation banquet for George IV 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

On the third voyage from 1822 to 1824, Weddell again commanded the Jane, while the captain of the Beaufroy was one Matthew Brisbane. Together they sailed to the South Orkneys again. Sealing proved disappointing, though, and after searching for land between the South Shetlands and the South Orkneys (and not finding any), they turned south in the hope to better sealing ground there. The season was unusually mild and tranquil, and on February 17, 1823 the two ships had reached latitude 74°34' S and longitude 30°12' W: the southernmost position any ship had ever reached before, a record that would hold for more than 80 years. A few icebergs were sighted but there was still no sight of land, leading Weddell to theorize that the sea continued as far as the South Pole. Another two days' sailing would have brought him to Coat's Land but Weddell decided to turn back. The region would not be visited again until 1911, when Wilhelm Filchner discovered the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. 1822 (MDCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ... Longitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter λ, describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Wilhelm Filchner (September 13, 1877 - May 7, 1957) was a German explorer. ... The calving of A-38 off Ronne ice shelf The Filchner-Ronne ice shelf is in Antarctica bordering the Weddell Sea. ...

Weddell returned north and sheltered at South Georgia, where he and his crews searched for the elusive seal. They wintered at the Falklands and sailed again for the South Shetlands in November 1823. At the beginning of 1824, the two ships separated. Weddell returned in March 1824 to the Falklands and headed back to England, where he arrived in July. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, also claimed by Argentina. ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

His record for a southerly voyage, three degrees beyond that of James Cook, caused some raised eyebrows. Weddell was persuaded by Strachan and Mitchell to incorporate everything in a book. The first edition appeared in 1825, followed by second enlarged edition in 1827, incorporating some informations from the Beaufroy which had returned to England in 1826. The Weddell Seal was named after James Weddell. The Weddell sea is also named after him. James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ... Naval Battle of Navarino by Carneray 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Later life

Weddell offered his services to the Admiralty with a proposal for a return voyage to the high southern latitudes, but was turned down. Instead, he returned to trading along the warmer Atlantic coasts. In 1829 he was still master of the Jane, but on a passage from Buenos Aires to Gibraltar the Jane leaked so badly that she had to be given up at the Azores. Weddell and his cargo were transferred to another ship for the passage to England, but this ran aground on the island of Pico, and Weddell only barely survived. Old Admiralty House, Whitehall, London, Thomas Ripley, architect, 1723-26, was not admired by his contemporaries and earned him some scathing couplets from Alexander Pope The Admiralty was historically the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Buenos Aires (English: ; originally , City of the Most Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Winds;[1] pronounced ) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port. ... Location Motto of the autonomous region: Antes morrer livres que em paz sujeitos (Portuguese: To die free rather than to be subjugated in peace) Official language Portuguese Capitals Ponta Delgada (Presidency of the autonomous government), Angra do Heroísmo (Supreme Court), Horta (Legislative Assembly) Other towns Praia da Vitória...

The loss of the Jane meant financial ruin for Weddell, who was forced to take paid employment as a ship's master. In September 1830 he left England as master of the Eliza, bound for the Swan River Colony in western Australia. From there he proceeded to Tasmania. He sailed back to England in 1832. Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... See also: History of Western Australia // Background to the Settlement The founding father of modern Western Australia was James Stirling who, in 1827, explored the Swan River area in HMS Success which first anchored off Rottnest, and later in Cockburn Sound. ... Emblems: Flora - Tasmanian Blue Gum; Mineral - Crocoite Motto: Ubertas et Fidelitas (Fertility and Faithfulness) Slogan or Nickname: The Apple Isle; Holiday Isle Other Australian states and territories Capital Hobart Government Const. ... 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Weddell died in 1834 at the age of forty-seven in relative poverty and obscurity in London. 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

External link

This article is heavily based on the public-domain biography of James Weddell by Ray Howgego.