Edward Belcher Admiral Sir Edward Belcher , KCB ( 27 February 1799 – 18 March 1877 ) , was a Nova Scotian , British naval officer and explorer . He was the great - grandson of Governor Jonathan Belcher . His wife , Diana Jolliffe , was the stepdaughter of Captain Peter Heywood . Biography . Early life . Belcher was born in Halifax , Nova Scotia , the second son of Andrew Belcher and entered the Royal Navy in 1812 . Surveys . In 1825 , he accompanied Frederick William Beechey ' s expedition to the Pacific and Bering Strait , as a surveyor . He subsequently commanded a surveying ship on the north and west coasts of Africa and in the British seas . Belcher married Diana Jolliffe in 1833 and three years thereafter took up the work which Beechey had left unfinished on the Pacific coast of South America . He was on board the bomb vessel HMS " Sulphur " , which was ordered to return to England in 1839 by the Trans - Pacific route . Belcher made various observations at a number of islands which he visited , was delayed by being despatched to take part in the war in China in 1840 . In 1841 , the then Commander Belcher landed on Possession Point at the north shore Hong Kong Island and made the first British survey of Hong Kong harbour . After the war ' s end in 1842 he reached home and for his services was made a Knight Bachelor in the following year . He was then engaged in HMS " Samarang " , in surveying work in the East Indies , the Philippines , Geomun - do ( Port Hamilton ) and other places , until 1847 . Arctic expedition . In 1852 Belcher led the last and largest Admiralty expedition to rescue Sir John Franklin . He was also to look for Richard Collinson and Robert McClure whose ships had not been seen after entering the Bering Strait . He did a great deal of sledge exploration , rescued McClure and abandoned 4 of his 5 ships in the ice . He had five ships : HMS Assistance ( 1850 ) ( Belcher ) , HMS Resolute ( 1850 ) ( Henry Kellett , second mate George Nares ) , the steam tenders " HMS Pioneer " ( Sherard Osborn ) and " HMS Intrepid " ( Leopold McClintock ) and the depot ship " North Star " ( William Pullen ) . Belcher and one tender were to enter Wellington Channel where Franklin was thought to be while Kellett was to go west to Melville Island and look for Collinson and McClure . The " North Star " was to stay at Beechey Island as a supply base . He left the Nore in April 1850 . By early winter the " Assistance " and " Pioneer " were frozen in at Northumberland Sound to the north of Wellington Channel while the " Resolute " and " Intrepid " were frozen in off Melville Island ( Arctic ) — the first ships this far west since William Edward Parry in 1819 . A great deal of exploration was done by manhauled sledges . In April 1853 Leopold McClintock and others left the " Resolute " on sledges and returned 105 days later having covered 1 , 400 miles and discovered Prince Patrick Island . Another party went west and discovered Robert McClure whose ship was frozen in at Mercy Bay . Belcher went north by sledge and found a channel at the northern tip of Devon Island , hinting that Franklin might have used it to escape to Baffin Bay . When the ice broke up that summer he pushed his ships up Wellington Channel and became trapped again . By February 1854 Belcher was becoming increasingly worried about the safety of his ships and men . In April he ordered Kellett to abandon his ships and return by sledge to the " North Star " . Belcher abandoned his two ships in late July . Aided by two ships that showed up at Beechey Island ( HMS Phoenix and Breadalbane ) , the whole party returned to England . Belcher went through a court martial , which was automatic for any captain who had lost a ship . He was exonerated , but his sword was returned to him ' without observation ' . He never again received an active command . Curiously the " Resolute " broke free of the ice and drifted all the way to Davis Strait where it was picked up by an American whaler . Later life . Following his last active service , he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1867 and an admiral in 1872 . Legacy . Belcher is commemorated in Hong Kong through Belcher ' s Street , Belcher Bay and The Belcher ' s in Kennedy Town . His name is also commemorated in the Belcher Islands , in the Canadian Arctic . Works . Edward Belcher published :