IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0064 MCCLU
Held at: National Maritime Museum
Title: Mcclure, Vice Admiral Sir Robert John Le Mesurier (1807-1873)
Date(s): 19th century
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 1 box
Name of creator(s): Mcclure | Sir | Robert John Le Mesurier | 1807-1873 | Knight | Vice-Admiral
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
McClure entered the Navy in 1824. He was made a lieutenant in 1837 and had already taken part in two Arctic expeditions when, in 1850, he was appointed to command the INVESTIGATOR in the search expedition for Sir John Franklin via the Bering Strait, led by Captain Richard Collinson. McClure and the men of the INVESTIGATOR were the first to make the traverse of the North-West Passage, though they were forced to abandon their ship which was beset in the ice off Banks Island, arriving back home in 1854. They were awarded £10,000 by Parliament in 1855 and McClure was knighted. In 1856 he was appointed to command the ESK on the Pacific Station and the following year was ordered to China. In December 1857 he commanded a battalion of the Naval Brigade at the capture of Canton. He was then appointed Senior Officer in the Straits of Malacca. He returned home in 1861 and had no further service, being promoted to rear-admiral in 1867 and vice-admiral in 1873 on the retired list.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of Sir Robert John Le Mesurier Mcclure, mostly commemorative of the voyage of the INVESTIGATOR, although there are a few papers relating to the Chinese War, two letters from the King of Siam and a record of service.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Finding aids:
Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The papers were presented in 1962 by a descendant of McClure's, Lieutenant-Commander H.R.W. Higgins, RNVR.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Sep 2011.
Date(s) of descriptions: 2010-08-26