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National Maritime Museum

Collinson, Sir Richard, Admiral, (1811-1883)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0064 CLS

Held at: National Maritime Museum

Title: Collinson, Sir Richard, Admiral, (1811-1883)

Date(s): [1836-1855]

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 6 1/2ft; 197cm

Name of creator(s): Collinson | Sir | Richard | 1811-1883 | Knight | Admiral

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Collinson entered the Navy in 1823. From 1831 to 1833 he served in the survey ship AETNA off the west coast of Africa and in the Mediterranean. He was commissioned as lieutenant in 1835 and in September of that year was appointed to the SULPHUR, surveying vessel, PACIFIC, under Captains Frederick Beechey (1796-1856) and Edward Belcher (q.v.). He was promoted to commander in 1841 and the following year was appointed to the PLOVER, surveying vessel, in which he made the first survey of the China coast. He remained in the PLOVER until 1846, having been promoted to captain in 1842. Collinson is known chiefly for his voyage of 1850 to 1855 in the ENTERPRISE, during which he spent three years exploring the Arctic beyond Point Barrow in a fruitless search for Sir John Franklin (q.v.) and his ships the EREBUS and TERROR. It was, however, his second-in-command, Robert McClure (q.v.), who went ahead in the INVESTIGATOR, who, while equally unsuccessful in the Franklin search, achieved the transit of the North West Passage, the goal of British Arctic exploration since Elizabethan times; though losing his ship in the process, he received the major share of public acclaim. Collinson was annoyed that his work had not received more attention and that he was not given any official reward. He never again applied for employment under the Admiralty, although he attained his flag in 1862, became vice-admiral in 1869 and an admiral on the retired list in 1875. He was an Elder Brother and Deputy Master of Trinity House, 1862 to 1883, and an active member of the Royal Geographical Society.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Sir Richard Collinson including private journals for 1836, 1850 to 1855, logs, 1843 to 1846, a remark book, 1850 to 1851, and letterbooks, 1845 to 1846 and 1850 to 1854. There is a large amount of material relating to Collinson's survey work, in particular to China and to the voyage of the ENTERPRISE. It includes numerous records of observations and calculations on navigation, magnetic variation, meteorology and tides. There is also a large body of official, semi-official and private correspondence, 1835 to 1855, together with copies of some letters and memoranda by Collinson. His correspondents included Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857), Hydrographer to the Admiralty, Peter la Trobe (1795-1863), Horatio T. Austin (so. 1800-1865) and John Barrow the younger (1808-1898). The only items relating to his later career are notebooks on his work for Trinity House and printed papers, mainly official publications.

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 purchased from Maggs Bros. in 1965.

ALLIED MATERIALS

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Jun 2011.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: 2010-08-26


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Ships logs | Primary documents | Documents | Information sources
Tides | Dynamic oceanography
Meteorology
Navigation
Surveying

Personal names
Austin | Sir | Horatio Thomas | d 1865 | Knight | Vice Admiral
Barrow | John | 1808-1898 | Lieutenant Colonel
Beaufort | Sir | Francis | 1774-1857 | Knight | Rear Admiral | hydrographer
Collinson | Sir | Richard | 1811-1883 | Knight | Admiral
Trobe | Peter La | 1795-1863 | Moravian Pastor

Corporate names
Royal Navy
Trinity House

Places
China | East Asia