Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier Biography and Timeline

Birth of Francis Crozier

Francis Crozier is born in Banbridge, County Down, and later becomes an experienced Royal Navy officer in both Arctic and Antarctic exploration.

Royal Navy Service Begins

Crozier enters the Royal Navy as a first-class volunteer and begins a career that eventually includes six major polar expeditions.

Role range: 1810-1848

First Parry Arctic Expedition

Crozier sails aboard HMS Fury with William Parry on an expedition seeking a Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic.

Role range: 1821-1823

Second Parry Arctic Expedition

Crozier joins HMS Hecla on another Parry expedition and continues developing practical experience in Arctic navigation and scientific observation.

Role range: 1824-1825

Parry North Pole Expedition

Crozier serves aboard Hecla during Parry's attempt to travel northward over the sea ice toward the geographic North Pole.

Role range: 1827-1827

Baffin Bay Whaler Search

Crozier joins an Arctic mission to Davis Strait and Baffin Bay searching for British whaling vessels believed to be missing.

Role range: 1835-1836

Ross Antarctic Expedition Begins

Crozier commands HMS Terror during James Clark Ross's Antarctic expedition, undertaking extensive magnetic, oceanographic and geographical exploration.

Role range: 1839-1843

Fellow of the Royal Society

Crozier is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of scientific work and magnetic observations made during polar expeditions.

Franklin Expedition Departure

Crozier sails as captain of HMS Terror and second-in-command of Franklin's expedition seeking the remaining navigable link through the Northwest Passage.

Role range: 1845-1848

Franklin Ships Abandoned

Crozier and James Fitzjames direct the abandonment of Erebus and Terror after prolonged entrapment in ice and lead the surviving crews southward.

Role range: 1847-1848