32
BACON—BAGEHOT.
mander, now Sir John, Franklin. After intermediately accompanying the perilous voyage of discovery made to the neighbourhood of Spitzbergen under Capt. David Buchan,[1] he was, early in 1819, selected to attend the former officer in his expedition overland from Hudson's Bay to the Coppermine River. To Capt. Franklin's 'Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in 1819–22' we must refer our readers for the particulars of that bold and hazardous undertaking – throughout every detail of which, including his journey on foot, in the depth of winter, from Fort Enterprise to Fort Chipewyan and back, a distance of 1104 miles, Mr. Back displayed in perfection all the qualities of a traveller of the most sterling, the most heroic cast. On 1 Jan. 1821, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, and on being subsequently appointed to the Superb 78, Capt. Sir Thos. Staines, visited Gibraltar and Barbadoes. We next, in Feb. 1825, find Lieut. Back, after attending a public dinner given to him by his fellow-townsmen at Stockport, again leaving England with Capt. Franklin, on another expedition to the Arctic regions, for the purpose of co-operating with Capts. Fred. Wm. Beechey and Edw. Wm. Parry, in their simultaneous endeavours to ascertain, from opposite quarters, the existence of a north-west passage. Capt. Franklin's 'Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea in 1825–7' will also afford every information on the subject of this very interesting mission. In its execution he extended lus researches to lat. 70° 24' N., long. 149° 37' W. During this last sojourn in America Lieut. Back was promoted to the rank of Commander, by commission dated 30 Dec. 1825; and when Capt. Franklin, on the return of the expedition, set out in advance, with five of his party, from Great Bear Lake, he was left at Fort Franklin in charge of the other officers and men, the boats, and all the collections of natural history, rough journals, notes, and astronomical, magnetical, and atmospherical observations, with orders to proceed, on the breaking up of the ice, to York Factory, and thence to England, where he arrived 10 Oct. 1827. From that period, unable to procure employment, he remained on half-pay until appointed, early in 1833, to conduct an expedition fitted out for the purpose of seeking Sir John Ross, who had, in the summer of 1829, gone in quest of the long-sought north-west passage. A full account of all the results of that harassing enterprise, in the course of which he had the good fortune to discover the sources of the river that now bears his name, Capt. Back has ably delineated in his ‘Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition to the Mouth of the Great Fish River, and along the Shores of the Arctic Ocean, in 1833–5.' He returned to England 18 Sept. 1835, and on the 30th of the same month was advanced to the well-earned rank of Post-Captain. On 11 May, 1836, he was next appointed to the Terror bomb: and, on 23 June following, he sailed from Papa Westra, one of the Orkneys, in command of a new expedition to the frigid zone. The details of his miraculous return to Lough Swilly, where he arrived 3 Sept. 1837, after reaching as far only as the northward of Charles Island, in Hudson's Bay, have been published by Capt. Back in his 'Narrative of an Expedition in H.M.S. Terror, undertaken with a View to Geographical Discovery on the Arctic Shores, in 1836–7.' He has since been on half-pay.
Sir Geo. Back, who was presented, 27 Nov. 1837, with the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his important discoveries while in search of Sir John Ross, and who received the honour of knighthood 18 March, 1839, is at present, we believe, employed by the Treasury. He married, 13 Oct. 1846, Theodosia Elizabeth, relict of the late Anthony Hammond, Esq., of Savile Row. Agent – Wm. H. B. Barwis.
BACON. (Retired Commander, 1844. f-p., 19 h-p., 35.)
Edmund Ker Cranstoun Bacon entered the Navy, 23 April, 1793, as Midshipman, on board the Raisonnable 64, Capt. Lord Cranstoun, in which ship he served off the coasts of France and Spain, the Canary and Western Islands, and on the Irish station, until transferred, in Nov. 1794, with the same Captain, to the Bellerophon 74, one of the Hon. Wm. Cornwallis' squadron in his subsequent pursuit of the force under M. Vence into Belleisle of the 7th, and in his memorable retreat of the 16 and 17 June, 1795. In Sept. 1796, he joined the Duke 98, Capt. John Holloway, and, after serving for some time also in the Royal Soveriegn, flagship in the Channel of Sir Alan Gardner, was promoted to a Lieutenancy, 25 Aug. 1799, in the Reynard 20, Capt. Peter Spicer, under whom he continued to serve in the Channel until Sept. 1801. His subsequent appointments appear to have been – 28 April, 1804, to the Charles armed ship, Capt. Davis, in the North Sea – 7 Oct. 1805, to the Saturn 74, Capt. Lord Amelius Beauclerk, cruising off Cadiz and L'Orient – 20 April, 1809, to the Royal Oak 74, commanded by the same nobleman, whom he accompanied in the ensuing expedition to the Walcheren – 17 Oct. 1810, to the Africa 64, flag-ship at Halifax of Rear-Admiral Herbert Sawyer – 21 Dec. 1811, to be Agent for Prisoners of War at Bermuda – and, 11 Nov. 1813, and 1 Feb. 1814, to the successive command of the Ardent and Romulus, on the same station. He was placed on half-pay in Nov. 1814; accepted, 26 Nov. 1830, the rank of Retired Commander under the Order in Council of that year; and, on 22 Jan. 1844, was promoted to the list of 1816. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
BACON. (Lieut., 1841. f-p., 18; h-p., 1.)
Henry Bacon entered the Navy, 22 June, 1828, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Challenger 28, Capt. Adolphus Fitzclarence, whom he followed into tiie Pallas 42. After visiting India and Halifax, in the execution of particular services, he became Midshipman, in March, 1831, of the Actaeon 26, Capt. Hon. Fred. Grey, stationed in the Mediterranean, where he subsequently served in the Scylla 18, Capt. Hon. Fred. Grey, Volage 28, Capt. Geo. Bohun Martin, Minden 74, Capt. Alex. Renton Sharpe, and Cambridge 78, Capt. Edw. Barnard. Having passed his examination in Oct. 1834, and been employed in the last-mentioned ship during the operations of 1840 on the coast of Syria, Mr. Bacon at length obtained a commission, dated 23 Nov. 1841. His appointments have since been – 30 Nov. 1841, and 18 May and 16 June, 1842, to the Calcutta 84, Capt. Sir Sam. Roberts, Queen 110, flag-ship of Sir Edw. W. C. R. Owen, and Vernon 50, Capt. Wm. Walpole, all on the Mediterranean station – and, 13 Nov. 1844, to the Daedalus 20, Capt. Peter M'Quhae, now employed on the East India station. Agents – Case and Loudonsack.
BAGEHOT. (Lieut., 1808. f-p., 36; h-p., 10.)
Charles Bagehot was born 15 Dec. 1786.
This officer entered the Navy, 1 March, 1801, as Midshipman, on board the Impetueux 74, Capt. Sir Edw. Pellew, in which ship, and the Tonnant 80, commanded by the same Captain, he served off Rochefort and Ferrol until May, 1804. He then joined the Culloden 74, on board which ship Sir Edward had hoisted his flag as Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies; attained the rating of Master's Mate 21 Sept. 1806; passed his examination in Dec. 1807; and, on 31 Jan. 1808, was confirmed a Lieutenant in the Fox 32, Capt. Archibald Cochrane. He returned to England in Feb. 1809; and was subsequently appointed – 23 March, 1810, to the Crane 18, Capt. Stuart, with whom he visited the West Indies – and, 9 March, 1810, to the Armada 74, Capts. Adam Mackenzie and Chas. Grant, employed off the Texel and in the Mediterranean. Since 11 Oct. 1823, Lieut. Bagehot (who had been eight years
- ↑ See 'A Voyage of Discovery towards the North Pole performed in H.M. Ships Dorothea and Trent, under the command of Capt. David Buchan, 1818.' By Capt. F. W. Beechey, R.N. 8vo. Lond. 1843.
