Richard Brydges Beechey

Richard Brydges Beechey born 17 May 1808, son of the renowned artist Sir William Beechey and brother of the Arctic explorer, Frederick William Beechey. In 1821, he entered the Royal Naval College, joining HMS Espiegle on the Home station the following year and serving in a succession of vessels until 1825. Returning home, he was appointed midshipman in HMS Blossom under his brother, Frederick William, on the British Naval Exploring Expedition, 1825-1828, instructed by the Admiralty to await the arrival of the expeditions of William Edward Parry and John Franklin, and to conduct exploratory and scientific work in the Pacific Ocean and Bering Strait. Setting sail from Spithead in May 1825, the expedition reached Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy in June 1826 where they learned that Parry's expedition had already returned home. The following month, the expedition proceeded to Chamisso Island in Alaska from where an advance party reached as far east as Point Barrow on 23 August, missing Franklin, by only five days. After wintering in the Pacific, they sailed north to the Bering Strait in the summer of 1827, but finding no trace of Franklin, returned to England by way of Cape Horn. During the expedition, Beechey made sketches and watercolours of the scenery and indigenous people and continued to be a successful marine artist throughout his naval career.

After the expedition, Beechey was promoted to HMS Madagascar on the Mediterranean station, later serving in a succession of vessels until 1831 when he was invalided. In 1835, he joined the survey of the coast of Ireland, where he remained until 1857 when he advanced to the rank of captain. He became a rear admiral on the retired list in 1875 and was promoted vice admiral in 1879. He died in 1895.