Douglas Charles Clavering

Douglas Charles Clavering was born on 8 September 1794 in Holyrood House in Edinburgh. He entered the Navy circa 1808, later serving as midshipman in HMS Shannon, employed in protecting British trade off the coast of North America. Promoted lieutenant, he served on the North America Station and in the Mediterranean until 1821 when he was appointed commander of HMS Pheasant, sailing with the astronomer Edward Sabine in a voyage to conduct pendulum observations in the Atlantic.

In 1823, Clavering was appointed to lead the British Naval Scientific Expedition, sent at the request of the Board of Longitude to Svalbard and the east coast of Greenland to enable Sabine to extend his observations on the length of the seconds pendulum. Setting out from London in HMS Griper in May 1823, the expedition visited Hammerfest, Norway, before sailing to northwest Svalbard where Sabine was left to conduct observations while Clavering attempted to sail Griper to a high northern latitude. He reached 80° 21 minutes North on 6 July before pack ice forced him to return to the observatory.

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