Article

Sir Henry Kellett

Published Online January 2, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Sir Henry Kellett, naval officer, arctic explorer (b at Clonabody, Ire 2 Nov 1806; d there 1 Mar 1875). Kellett joined the British navy in 1822 and served in the West Indies and on survey vessels in Africa, the Far East and Central America.

Kellett, Sir Henry

Sir Henry Kellett, naval officer, arctic explorer (b at Clonabody, Ire 2 Nov 1806; d there 1 Mar 1875). Kellett joined the British navy in 1822 and served in the West Indies and on survey vessels in Africa, the Far East and Central America. From 1846 to 1850 he commanded Resolute and Intrepid as part of the expedition led by Sir Edward BELCHER to search for Sir John Franklin (seeFRANKLIN SEARCH) in the eastern Arctic. In the winter of 1853 his ships were trapped by ice in Barrow Strait, and in April 1854, under protest, he obeyed an order to abandon them; a later court-martial quickly absolved him of responsibility for this action. Denied credit and a share of the reward for his role in the discovery of the NORTHWEST PASSAGE, he subsequently served in the West Indies and China.