John Balleny (died 1857) was the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

captain of the sealing schooner , who led an exploration cruise for the English whaling firm

Samuel Enderby & Sons Samuel Enderby & Sons was a whaling and Seal hunting, sealing company based in London, England, founded circa 1775 by Samuel Enderby (1717–1797). The company was significant in the history of whaling in the United Kingdom, not least for encou ...

to the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and othe ...

in 1838–1839. During the expedition of 1838–1839, Balleny, sailing in company with Thomas Freeman and , sailed into the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-smal ...

along a corridor of longitude centering on the line of 175°E., south of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Biography

Balleny was born approximately 1770, and by 1798 was living in

St George in the East St George-in-the-East is an Anglican Church dedicated to Saint George and one of six Hawksmoor churches in London, England. It was built from 1714 to 1729, with funding from the 1711 Act of Parliament. Its name has been used for two forms of p ...

, then the shipping quarter of London, and was part owner of a 569

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

ship, ''Blenheim''. He was recorded as ship's master for a few trading ships up until 1824, including the trading ship ''Lord Cathcart'' and the 269-ton

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...

''Peace''. In 1824, he owned part of a

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

, ''Caledonia'', but was not longer registered as the master of any ship for the following year, possibly indicating his retirement.

Voyage of ''Eliza Scott''

had sent two unsuccessful expeditions towards Antarctica in the early 1830s, and had decided to send a third - the 156-ton

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

and the 54-ton cutter . Although the ships set off from London on 12 July 1838 with Thomas Freeman in command of the ''Eliza Scott'', by the time they had reached

Deal, Kent Deal is a coastal town in Kent, England, which lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet, north-east of Dover and south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked to the anch ...

two days later, Balleny was in command and Freeman was master of the ''Sabrina'', evidently brought out of retirement for the expedition. The ''Eliza Scott'' had not been built for such an arduous journey, making the trip quite a difficult one for Balleny and his crew. In addition, Balleny's had intended to hold religious services on a Sunday, which had endeared him to the Enderby's, but the crew refused to come on deck to the service early in the journey and the plan was dropped. The ships arrived at Chalky Island near

on 3 December 1838, where they remained for a month, hunting seals and replenishing supplies. The Balleny squadron logged a partial break in the

pack ice Drift ice, also called brash ice, is sea ice that is not attached to the shoreline or any other fixed object (shoals, grounded icebergs, etc.).Leppäranta, M. 2011. The Drift of Sea Ice. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Unlike fast ice, which is "faste ...

surrounding the southern continent, discovered the

Balleny Islands The Balleny Islands () are a series of uninhabited islands in the Southern Ocean extending from 66°15' to 67°35'S and 162°30' to 165°00'E. The group extends for about in a northwest-southeast direction. The islands are heavily glaciated an ...

in 1839, and caught a brief sight of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

itself at 64°58'S., 121°08'E. This patch of icy land is today called the

Sabrina Coast Sabrina Coast () is that portion of the coast of Wilkes Land, Antarctica, lying between Cape Waldron, at 115° 33' E, and Cape Southard, at 122° 05' E. John Balleny has long been credited with having seen land in March 1839 at about 117° E. T ...

. On the return journey, the ''Sabrina'' was lost on 24 March 1839 and the voyage was not profitable as the 178

seal skins Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

that Balleny returned with did not cover the cost of the expedition.

References

External links

Brief history of Antarctic exploration
with remarks on Balleny's role. {{DEFAULTSORT:Balleny, John Year of birth missing 1857 deaths 19th-century explorers British people in whaling Explorers of Antarctica