Admiral Pelham Aldrich, CVO (8 December 1844 – 12 November 1930) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer, who became Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth Docks.

Biography

He was born in Mildenhall,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

, the son of Dr. Pelham Aldrich and Elizabeth Frances Aldrich, and married Edith Caroline Issacson in 1875. He entered the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

as a Naval Cadet in June 1859 and was promoted to

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second hig ...

on 17 September 1864 and

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 11 September 1866. He served as a lieutenant on the corvette , then from 18 December 1869 on the broadside

ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...

and from 15 November 1872 on the as first lieutnant. Whilst on board the ''Challenger'', he took part in the 4-year-long ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–76 – a scientific expedition that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. In 1875, he transferred to the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

to take part in the

British Arctic Expedition The British Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876, led by Sir George Strong Nares, was sent by the British Admiralty to attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound. Although the expedition failed to reach the North Pole, the coasts of Greenland ...

, which was sent by the British Admiralty to attempt to reach the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

via

Smith Sound Smith Sound ( da, Smith Sund; french: Détroit de Smith) is an uninhabited Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada's northernmost island, Ellesmere Island. It links Baffin Bay with Kane Basin and forms part of the Nares Strait , othe ...

. Aldrich commanded the Western Sledge Party to Ellesmere Island, and what is often described as the most northerly point of North America is named Cape Aldrich in his honour. He became a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

on 3 November 1876 and commanded the ''Sylvia'' and on surveying expeditions of China and the Mediterranean. As captain of ''Fawn'' he, along with the scientist

Stephen Joseph Perry Stephen Joseph Perry SJ FRS (26 August 1833, in London – 27 December 1889) was an English Jesuit and astronomer, known as a participant in scientific expeditions. Life He belonged to a well-known Catholic family. His schooling was firs ...

, observed the

1882 transit of Venus The 1882 transit of Venus, which took place on 6 December 1882 (13:57 to 20:15 UTC), was the second and last transit of Venus of the 19th century, the first having taken place eight years earlier in 1874. Many an expedition was sent by European ...

from an improvised tent observatory in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 29 June 1883, commanding the ''Sylvia'' and on further surveying expeditions of the Cape of Good Hope and Australia. In 1888 ''Egeria'' visited

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

. On board was

Charles Wyville Thomson Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (5 March 1830 – 10 March 1882) was a Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist. He served as the chief scientist on the Challenger expedition; his work there revolutionized oceanography and led to his knigh ...

(who had been chief scientist on the ''Challenger'' Expedition) who named a

crinoid Crinoids are marine animals that make up the Class (biology), class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or coma ...

Bathycrinus aldrichianus ''Bathycrinus aldrichianus'' is a species of sea lily, a crinoid in the family Bathycrinidae Bathycrinidae is a family of echinoderms in the class Crinoidea. It contains the following genera and species: * ''Bathycrinus'' Wyville Thomson, ...

'' after Aldrich. In 1978 a Christmas Island stamp was issued in his honour. Mount Aldrich, in Antarctica, was named after him by Robert Scott to thank him for his assistance given in preparing for Scott's expedition. Aldrich was promoted to

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often regar ...

on 21 December 1898, and served as

admiral superintendent The admiral-superintendent was the Royal Navy officer in command of a larger Naval Dockyard. Portsmouth, Devonport and Chatham all had admiral-superintendents, as did some other dockyards in the United Kingdom and abroad at certain times. The admir ...

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is lo ...

between 1 September 1899 and 1 September 1902, flagship HMS ''Asia''. He was appointed a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, ...

(CVO) by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

in 1902. The following year, he was promoted to vice-admiral on 12 August 1903 and finally admiral on 1 March 1907. He retired from the Navy on 22 March 1908 and moved to The Croft, in

Great Bealings Great Bealings is a small village in Suffolk, England. It has about 302 people living in it in around 113 households. Its nearest towns are Ipswich ( away) and Woodbridge (). Nearby villages include Little Bealings, Playford, Culpho, Hask ...

in Suffolk. He died in Great Bealings and was buried in the local churchyard on 17 November 1930. His wife was buried in the same place on 6 May 1943, aged 94.Burial records from St Mary's, Great Bealings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrich, Pelham English explorers Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order 1844 births 1930 deaths Royal Navy admirals Explorers of the Arctic People from Mildenhall, Suffolk 19th-century Royal Navy personnel