Francis Leopold McClintock Biography and Timeline

Birth of Francis Leopold McClintock

Francis Leopold McClintock is born in Dundalk and later becomes a leading Royal Navy specialist in Arctic sledging and Franklin searches.

Royal Navy Career Begins

McClintock enters the Royal Navy as a first-class volunteer and begins the naval career that eventually takes him repeatedly into Arctic waters.

Role range: 1831-1884

First Franklin Search Expedition

McClintock joins HMS Enterprise on his first expedition searching for Sir John Franklin and the missing crews of Erebus and Terror.

Role range: 1848-1849

Austin Franklin Search Expedition

McClintock serves aboard HMS Assistance during Horatio Austin's large Royal Navy expedition searching the Arctic for evidence of Franklin.

Role range: 1850-1851

Command of HMS Intrepid

McClintock commands HMS Intrepid on another Franklin search and further develops efficient techniques for long-distance Arctic sledge travel.

Role range: 1852-1854

Promotion to Captain

McClintock is promoted to captain after returning from years of intensive Arctic searching and sledging operations.

Role range: 1854-1871

Command of Fox Expedition

Lady Jane Franklin selects McClintock to command the yacht Fox on a privately funded expedition seeking definitive evidence about Franklin's fate.

Role range: 1857-1859

Fox Reaches Bellot Strait

McClintock guides Fox through Prince Regent Sound and toward Bellot Strait before establishing winter quarters for the renewed search.

Role range: 1857-1859

Franklin Expedition Remains Found

McClintock finds human remains and abandoned equipment during his search of King William Island, adding important evidence about Franklin's lost expedition.

Role range: 1857-1859

Franklin Record Recovered

McClintock's expedition recovers the written record left by Franklin's officers, providing the first authoritative account of the ships' abandonment.

Role range: 1857-1859

Voyage of the Fox Published

McClintock publishes The Voyage of the Fox in the Arctic Seas, presenting the expedition's evidence about the fate of Franklin and his companions.

Inuit Evidence of Franklin Expedition

McClintock interviews Inuit witnesses who report a shipwreck and describe survivors from Franklin's expedition travelling south across the Arctic.

Role range: 1857-1859