Arthur Claypon Horner studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and qualified as MRCS in 1872 and LRCP in 1876. He later served as assistant surgeon in the Fifth French Ambulance Corps during the Franco-Prussian War. In 1875, he was appointed surgeon and naturalist in Pandora on the British Northwest Passage Expedition (leader Allen Young), a private venture with the object of reaching the magnetic pole by way of Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound, then navigating the Northwest Passage in one season. Setting out from Southampton in June 1875, the expedition entered Lancaster Sound in August, later reaching Beechey Island where they examined relics of the Franklin search expeditions. Continuing into Peel Sound, Pandora was beset by heavy ice in Franklin Strait with no hope of further progress.
Horner returned to the Canadian Arctic the following year in Pandora on the British Relief Expedition (leader Allen Young), landing dispatches for George Strong Nares of the British Arctic Expedition, 1875-1876. On his return, Horner published his experiences in Notes on Arctic Natural History .
He served as house surgeon at Kidderminster Infirmary, resident obstetric assistant at Westminster Hospital, and assistant medical officer to the Central London Sick Association. In 1879, he moved to Tonbridge in Kent, where he started a local branch of the St John's Ambulance. He died in August 1893 at Tonbridge.
From the guide to the Arthur Horner collection, 1875-1876, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
