Samuel Gurney Cresswell (25 September 1827 – 14 August 1867), was a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
officer. He was technically the first naval officer to cross the entire
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...
.
Robert McClure was in charge of the expedition but Cresswell reached England first.
Early years
Cresswell was born in
King's Lynn,
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1827. His parents were Francis Cresswell, Esq. (born 1789) and Rachel Elizabeth Fry (born 1803, London,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
, daughter of
Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney; 21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845), sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the tr ...
). Cresswell had two older brothers (Frank Joseph and Addison John), and three that were younger (William Edward, Gerard Oswin, and Oswald). He had one sister, Harriet France Elizabeth. The Cresswells' circle in Norfolk included the
Gurneys as well as Sir
Edward Parry.
Career
He joined the Navy in 1842, and served in the seas off
China where he encountered pirates.
In 1846 he served on the personal staff of Rear-Admiral
Sir Thomas John Cochrane in an expedition in
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...
, and was
Mentioned in Despatches. A few years later, he participated in the 1848-49 Arctic rescue efforts for Sir
John Franklin
Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...
under Sir
James Clark Ross
Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and polar explorer known for his explorations of the Arctic, participating in two expeditions led by his uncle John Ross, and four led by William Edwa ...
. He was promoted
mate
Mate may refer to:
Science
* Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in:
** Mate choice, intersexual selection
** Mating
* Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins
Person or title
* Friendship ...
on 6 April 1848, and thanks to his good performance in the Arctic, to
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 10 September 1849.
Cresswell was appointed as the second lieutenant and ship's artist aboard
HMS ''Investigator'' under
Robert McClure
Vice-Admiral Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure (28 January 1807 – 17 October 1873) was an Irish explorer of Scots descent who explored the Arctic. In 1854 he traversed the Northwest Passage by boat and sledge, and was the first to ci ...
during the
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
expedition in search of the Northwest Passage.
During this voyage, Cresswell sketched and painted several depictions of their life in the Arctic. With the ''Investigator'' locked in ice from September 1851 through the spring of 1853, several men became invalid, and Cresswell was put in charge of transporting them to Captain
Henry Kellett
Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, (2 November 1806 – 1 March 1875) was a British naval officer and explorer.
Career
Born at Clonacody in Tipperary County, Ireland, on 2 November 1806, Kellett joined the Royal Navy in 1822. He spent three yea ...
's ship away which Cresswell and the
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
interpreter J.A. Miertsching accomplished with no loss of life. Kellett then sent Cresswell with additional invalid men to
Beechey Island
Beechey Island ( iu, Iluvialuit, script=Latn) is an island located in the Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada, in Wellington Channel. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait. Other features include Wellington C ...
. When ice conditions finally permitted ship travel, Cresswell finally headed for England, arriving in autumn 1853 with the announcement that the Northwest Passage had finally been located. Upon his return to England, Parry declared that Cresswell, then a lieutenant, was the first person to traverse the Northwest Passage,
though in actuality, Cresswell was the first naval officer to cross the entire Northwest Passage.
Cresswell's numerous water-colour paintings made during the Ross and McClure expeditions leave behind a pictorial record of the activities and terrain. Some of the sketches were presented to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
. A subsequent folio volume of lithographic views of the drawings, ''A Series of Eight Sketches in Colour, together with a Chart of the Route of the Voyage of H.M.S. 'Investigator' during the Discovery of the North West Passage'', was published in London in 1854.
In the same year, he was promoted to the rank of
commander on 21 October (again for his Arctic service
), and served in the
Crimean War's Baltic theatre. Three years later, in command of
HMS ''Surprise'', he participated in the
Second Opium War, receiving three further Mentions in Despatches, one being for the attack on the
Taku Forts
The Taku Forts or Dagu Forts, also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River (Peiho River) estuary in the Binhai New Area, Tianjin, in northeastern China. They are located southeast of the Tianjin urban center.
History
The ...
. He was also promoted to the rank of
captain on 17 September 1858 for his actions on the
Hai River
The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea.
The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the ...
,
but due to ill-health, was unable to accept any further appointments.
Personal life
Cresswell never married. He was an avid
book collector
Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is '' bibliophilia'', and some ...
.
He retired in 1867
and died soon after at his birthplace of King's Lynn, age 39.
References
* Harrod, D., & Cresswell, S. G. (2000). ''War, ice & piracy: The remarkable career of a Victorian sailor : the journals and letters of Samuel Gurney Cresswell''. London: Chatham.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cresswell, Samuel Gurney
19th-century English painters
1827 births
1867 deaths
English male painters
People from King's Lynn
Royal Navy officers
19th-century English male artists