Nelson, James

James Nelson was born circa 1835, joining the Navy at the age of thirteen and serving in HMS President as an ordinary seaman between 1848 and 1849 and in HMS Wellington between 1849 and 1850. He was appointed able seaman in HMS Investigator on the British Naval Franklin Search Expedition, 1850-1854 (leader Robert McClure), sent by the Admiralty to search for the Franklin's missing Northwest passage expedition by way of Bering Strait. After the expedition, Nelson was discharged from the Navy at the age of twenty, later becoming a customs officer at Gravesend

From the guide to the James Nelson collection, 1849-1854, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)

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