Francis Crozier

## Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier

Francis Crozier in 1845

**Francis Crozier** was the captain of *HMS Terror*, and second in command of the Franklin expedition.

## Early Life

Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier was born in Banbridge Ireland on October 17th, 1796. He was the son of George Crozier. Francis was the eleventh of thirteen children.

## Naval Career

When he was 13, Francis signed up for the Royal Navy as a cabin boy on *HMS Hamadryad* in June 1810. Two years later, Francis served on the *HMS Briton*, and in 1814, sailed to Pitcairn Island, where he met the last survivors from the famous *HMS Bounty* mutiny. In 1817, Francis received his mate's certificate and became a mate on the *HMS Doterel* when they made a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.

## Arctic Voyages With Parry

In 1821, Crozier was appointed to William Edward Parry's expedition to find the Northwest Passage aboard the *HMS Fury* and *HMS Hecla*. Three years later, Crozier and Parry returned to the Arctic. During this time, the *Fury* ran aground and had to be abandoned at Somerset Island. In 1826, Crozier received a promotion to Lieutenant. Not long afterwards, Crozier joined Parry for a disastrous trip to reach the North Pole. During this time, Crozier met and befriended James Clark Ross. For his astronomical and magnetic studies during the Parry expeditions, Crozier became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

## Later Naval Career

In 1831, Crozier served on the *HMS Stag* and served off the coast of Portugal during the Liberal Wars. Four years later, Crozier served as second in command on the *HMS Cove* when they went searching for 12 missing whaling ships in the Arctic. In 1837, Crozier received a promotion to Commander.

## Ross Antarctic Voyages

In 1839, Crozier once again joined his friend Ross, this time, on a voyage to the Antarctic. During the voyage, Crozier was captain of *HMS Terror*, while Ross captained *HMS Erebus*. The expedition returned in 1843 after making significant discoveries about Antarctica including Ross Island, Mt. Erebus, the Ross ice shelf and the Ross Sea.

Later that year, Crozier became a Fellow of the Royal Society for his outstanding work in magnetism.

## Franklin Expedition

In 1845, the British Government announced they were launching another voyage to find the Northwest Passage. When Parry and Ross were unavailable, they chose Sir John Franklin to lead it, and Crozier was selected as the second in command of the expedition and resumed his role as captain of the *Terror*. After stopping in Greenland in July to drop off excess supplies and sick men, Crozier took the time to write to Ross and John Henderson.

On June 11, 1847, Sir John died, and Crozier assumed command of the expedition. In April 1848, Crozier decided to desert the ships. The men camped on King William Island and Terror's 3rd lieutenant John Irving was sent out to find the Victory Point note. He was successful in his search and gave it back to Crozier and James Fitzjames. While Fitzjames did most of the updating on the note, Crozier wrote the final bit which included their plan to leave the camp on April 26, and march south to the Back River. Eventually, some or all of the men returned to the ships and sailed down to western side of King William Island. What happened to Crozier after that is currently unknown.

## Artifact Discoveries

In 1854, John Rae and his Franklin search expedition met up with Inuit at Pelly Bay. One item they gave him was a silver table spoon with Crozier's initials on it. Five years later, Francis McClintock and his search expedition discovered an abandoned boat in Erebus Bay. One item they found inside it was a silver teaspoon with Crozier's initials.

## Gallery

Portrait of Francis Crozier in the 1830s.One of two spoons that belonged to Crozier which were recoveredSir John Franklin, Crozier, and Sir James Ross at the Rossbank observatory in Tasmania in 1842 (by Thomas Bock)-Arctic Medal, reportedly the one awarded posthumously to Francis Crozier, claimed by a later family member (photograph from c.1988)A possible sketch of Crozier (an unidentified portrait by Thomas Bock)A bust of Crozier from early 1845A painting of CrozierA slightly different copy of the above daguerreotype