Charles Codrington Forsyth
Charles Codrington Forsyth | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1810 |
| Died | 1873 |
| Allegiance | British Empire |
| Branch |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1826-1870 |
| Rank | Captain (Royal Navy) |
| Commands | Prince Albert, HMS Hornet, HMS Valorous |
| Known for | Prince Albert expedition |
| Battles / wars | Second Opium War (Battle of the Bogue (1856), Battle of Escape Creek, Battle of Fatshan Creek) |
Charles Codrington Forsyth (c. 1810 – 1873) was a British captain of the Royal Navy. He participated in the second voyage of HMS Beagle, making surveys in Australia and South America.[1] He later commanded an 1850 search for Franklin's lost expedition, being the first to bring news on the expedition's whereabouts since its disappearance in 1845. Forsyth later commanded HMS Hornet in both the Crimean War and the Second Opium War. He is the namesake of Forsyth Bay and Forsyth Point on Prince of Wales Island.[2]
Early career and HMS Beagle
[edit]Charles Codrington Forsyth entered the Royal Navy on December 18, 1826,[3] initially participating in anti-slavery operations off Africa.[1][2][4]
In 1832, he transferred to the HMS Beagle as a midshipman. There, he participated in HMS Beagle's second voyage with Charles Darwin, surveying 1700 miles of South American coastline between Chile and northern Peru.[1][4]
In 1836, he transferred to HMS Pelorus as a master's mate.[4] In this role, he helped evacuate British residents of Rangoon during tensions with King Tharrawaddy[4] and surveyed Torbay, Western Australia.[5] It was in this time he met Sir John Franklin, then governor of Van Diemen's Land,[2] who sought his assistance capturing a group of escaped convicts.[4]
Forsyth rejoined HMS Beagle in 1839,[4] stopping again in Van Diemen's Land to survey the Bass Strait. To support this work, Sir John Franklin lent Forsyth a cutter and later recommended him to the Admiralty.[4]
Forsyth was promoted to lieutenant in 1843 and transferred to HMS Helena. There, he returned to anti-slavery duties, earning further recommendations to the Admiralty for accomplishing hazardous military resupplies near the Cape of Good Hope.[2][3][4] He was promoted to commander in 1849.[2][4]
Prince Albert expedition
[edit]In 1850, Forsyth volunteered to command the first of Lady Franklin's privately-funded searches for Sir John's lost expedition. After gaining permission from the Admiralty on April 27, 1850, Forsyth took command of the Prince Albert, a schooner purchased by Lady Franklin. He would be accompanied by William Parker Snow.[2][6] To prepare for the hazards of an Arctic search expedition, Forsyth consulted with veteran polar explorers such as William Edward Parry, James Clark Ross, and Frederick William Beechey.[2][7]
Forsyth's expedition left Aberdeen on June 5, 1850, with instructions to go through Prince Regent Inlet and search the west coast of Boothia Peninsula. Although the Prince Albert successfully entered Prince Regent Inlet, Forsyth and his crew of whalers were soon blocked by the ice. Seeing no opportunity to penetrate further, they turned back at Fury Beach on Somerset Island on August 22, 1850.[2]
On their return journey, the Prince Albert expedition rendezvoused with HMS Assistance and HMS Intrepid near Beechey Island, who informed them that Franklin's expedition had made winter quarters nearby.[8] Snow went ashore to investigate and found scattered traces of their camp, including tent rings and naval rope.[7] The expedition reported this information on its return to Britain, making it the first to bring any news about the Franklin expedition since 1845.[2][6] Of the reaction, historian Ian Stone writes:
The reception accorded Forsyth was all that he could have desired, although the Franklin ménage was furious at his early return. [...] Forsyth commented that he had received letters that showed the return had "given fresh hopes to many an aching heart." There was also much favourable comment in the press.[2]
In 1851, Snow published an account of Forsyth's expedition to raise funds and support for another search party.[2]
Later career and death
[edit]Forsyth did not participate in any further searches for the Franklin expedition. He later became inspecting-commander of the Coast Guard at Berwick-upon-Tweed and Brighton, before gaining command of HMS Hornet. In that capacity, he participated in actions against the Russian Navy off the coast of Siberia during the Crimean War,[2] including skirmishes with the Russian frigate Aurora off Castries Bay.[9]
In 1856, Forsyth commanded HMS Hornet in the Second Opium War against China. Under his command, HMS Hornet and its crew fought in the Battle of the Bogue, Battle of Escape Creek, and the Battle of Fatshan Creek, inflicting heavy losses against Chinese junks and fortifications in the Pearl River delta.[10][2]
Forsyth was promoted captain on August 10, 1857, and received a peacetime command of HMS Valorous. He retired in April 1870 and died in 1873.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Keynes, Simon (November 1, 2010). "Forsyth's Log From the Voyage of HMS Beagle". Darwin Online. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Stone, Ian R. (1985). "Charles Codrington Forsyth (ca. 1810-1873)". Arctic. 38 (4): 340–1. doi:10.14430/arctic2155. JSTOR 40511008 – via JSTOR.
- ^ a b O'Byrne, William R. (1849). "Forsyth, Charles Codrington". A Naval Biographical Dictionary – via WikiSource.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Commander C. Codrington Forsyth". Sydney Morning Herald. August 1, 1849. p. 4. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
- ^ "Shipping Intelligence". The Western Australian Journal. April 14, 1838. p. 58.
- ^ a b Stone, Ian R. (1993). "An episode in the Franklin search: the Prince Albert expedition, 1850. Part 1". Polar Record. 29 (169): 127–142. Bibcode:1993PoRec..29..127S. doi:10.1017/S0032247400023585 – via Cambridge Core.
- ^ a b Snow, William Parker (1851). Voyage of the Prince Albert In Search of Sir John Franklin. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. pp. 12–14, 316–320.
- ^ Martin, Peter R. (2024). "'Kalli in the ship': Inughuit abduction and the shaping of Arctic knowledge". History and Anthropology. 35 (5): 1218–1243. doi:10.1080/02757206.2023.2235383. PMC 11601050. PMID 39611056.
- ^ Stephan, John J. (1969). "The Crimean War in the Far East". Modern Asian Studies. 3 (3): 257–277. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00002365. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 311951.
- ^ Clowes, William Laird (1897). The Royal Navy, a History from the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria. Vol. 7. London: Samson Low, Marston and Co. pp. 99–112.
External links
[edit]- Geneaological information at ClanForsythAustralia.org