Sir Allen William Young

Allen William Young was born on 12 December 1827 at Twickenham. In 1842, he joined the Merchant Navy, later commanding Marlborough between 1853 and 1854 and Adelaide during the Crimean War. In 1857, he was appointed second officer and sailing master of Fox on the British Franklin Search Expedition, 1857-1859 (leader Francis Leopold McClintock), a private expedition sponsored by Jane, Lady Franklin and public subscription to search in the area of King William Island for relics of Sir John Franklin's ill-fated Northwest Passage expedition.

In April 1859, Young set out on a sledge journey, exploring the east, south and west coasts of Prince of Wales Island and discovering McClintock Channel. On his return, he was appointed to the command of Fox on the British North Atlantic Telegraph Expedition in 1860, conducting deep-sea soundings by way of the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Labrador in preparation for a proposed telegraph line between Britain and North America.

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