Beechey, British Naval Exploring Expedition, 1825-1828

• MS 844;BJ Account, May to November 1826 [In HMS Blossom to the Pacific and Bering's Straits] 1 volume, holograph (Xerox)

The British Naval Exploring Expedition, 1825-1828 (leader Frederick William Beechey) was sent to conduct exploratory and scientific work in the Pacific Ocean and Bering Strait while awaiting the arrival of the expeditions of William Edward Parry (The British Naval North West Passage Expedition, 1824-1825) and John Franklin (The British Naval Exploring Expedition, 1825-1827, second Arctic land expedition). Setting sail from Spithead in May 1825, the expedition reached Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy in June 1826 where they learned that Parry's expedition had already returned home. The expedition proceeded to Chamisso Island in Alaska from where an advance party reached Point Barrow on 23 August, missing Franklin, by five days. After wintering in the Pacific, they sailed north to the Bering Strait in the summer of 1827, before returning to England by way of Cape Horn.

Chronological

The Institute holds an archival collection for Edward Belcher which also contains material regarding this expedition. The Institute also holds an archival collection for Frederick William Beechey, Richard's brother and the leader of the expedition.