William Kennedy (naval officer)
William Kennedy (* April 1814 in Cumberland House , Saskatchewan ; † 25. January 1890 in St. Andrews , Manitoba ) was a Canadian - British naval officer , Arctic explorer and fur trader.
In 1851/52 he led an expedition to find the missing Franklin expedition . Together with the French naval officer Joseph-René Bellot , he drove to Leopold Island on the northeast tip of Somerset Island . The two researchers discovered the Bellot Strait between Boothia and North Somerset and drove through the same west to Prince of Wales Island , which they traveled through to Cape Walker .
Since Kennedy mistakenly thought the Peelsund south of the Bellot Strait was just a bay instead of a navigable strait , he failed to look further south for Franklin, where the expedition would probably have encountered Franklin's ships. Kennedy returned along the north Somerset coast and across Beechey Island .
After his return he wrote A short narrative of the second voyage of the Prince Albert in search of Sir John Franklin (1853) about his arctic experiences. The Kennedy Canal , a strait between Ellesmere Island and Greenland , is named after William Kennedy .
literature
- Edward Charles Shaw: William Kennedy . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
- A short narrative of the second voyage of the Prince Albert in search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, digitized
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kennedy, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian-British naval officer, polar explorer and fur trader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 1814 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cumberland House , Saskatchewan |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 25, 1890 |
| Place of death | St. Andrews , Manitoba |