Benjamin Leigh Smith

Benjamin Leigh Smith (12 March 1828 – 4 January 1913) was an English Arctic explorer and yachtsman. He is the grandson of the Radical abolitionist William Smith.

Ben Leigh Smith
Portrait by Stephen Pearce, 1886
Born
Benjamin Leigh Smith

(1828-03-12)12 March 1828
Whatlington, Sussex, England
Died4 January 1913(1913-01-04) (aged 84)
Hampstead, London, England
OccupationArctic explorer, yachtsman
Years active1871–1882 (as explorer)
Parent(s)
  • Benjamin Leigh Smith (father)
FamilyWilliam Smith (grandfather)
Awards
  • Royal Geographical Society's Patron's Medal (1881)

Early life

He was born in Whatlington, Sussex, the extramarital child of Anne Longden, a milliner from Alfreton, and the Whig politician Benjamin Smith (1783–1860), the only son of William Smith, a Radical abolitionist.

On a visit to his sister in Derbyshire in 1826, Benjamin senior met Anne Longden. She became pregnant by him and he took her to a rented lodge at Whatlington, a small village near Battle, East Sussex. There she lived as "Mrs Leigh", the surname of his relations on the nearby Isle of Wight. The birth of their first child, Barbara Leigh Smith, created a scandal because the couple did not marry, and within eight weeks Anne was pregnant again. When their son Benjamin was born, the four of them went to America for two years, during which time another child was conceived.

After their return to Sussex, they lived openly together at Brown's and had two more children. Subsequently Anne became ill with tuberculosis and died in Ryde, Isle of Wight, in 1834. Ben was only five years old.

Explorations

Between 1871 and 1882, Leigh Smith undertook five major scientific expeditions to Svalbard and Franz Josef Land. He brought back specimens for the British Museum and Royal Botanic Gardens, as well as live polar bears for the London Zoo. By his fourth expedition, Leigh Smith's enthusiasm for Arctic exploration had advanced to the point that he had his own vessel—Eira—specially built.[1]

Eira
The foundering of the Eira in 1881

Eira was built at the Scottish shipyard of Stephen & Forbes at Peterhead as a three-masted, steam-equipped screw barquentine from 1879 to 1880. John and David Gray pioneered steam engine ships and the Eira was designed along the lines of the whaler Hope and Windward. At 125 feet (38 m) long and 360 tons the Eira was seven feet longer and forty tons heavier that the Windward—built in 1866 with a 30 hp steam engine—but an otherwise close copy. The ships hull was three feet thick and the bow had a thickness of eight feet. After launching the Eira was towed to Aberdeen where a 50 hp steam engine was installed.

Eira Lodge on Bell Island

On 19 June 1880, the ship left Aberdeen with Captain William Lofley, captain of the Hull, as ice master, two mates, two engineers, and 17 men. On 20 June, four Shetlanders were picked up at Lerwick for the voyage and exploration of Svalbard. On 11 July, John Gray's Hope and David Gray's Eclipse met up with the Eira and Leigh Smith. Photographer William John Alexander Grant took a photograph aboard the Eira that included Arthur Conan Doyle along with Leigh Smith, the Gray brothers, and ships surgeon William Neale.

This was the exploration of Franz Josef Land, that on 18 August, resulted in the naming of Cape Flora, Bell Island, Nightingale Sound, Gratton ("Uncle Joe") Island, and Mabel Island.[2] Leigh Smith discovered and named Brochøya, Foynøya, and 31 other points in northeast Svalbard. In 1881, he and his crew survived for 10 months in Russian Franz Josef Land after their ship was crushed in the ice at Cape Flora, Northbrook Island.

In August 2017, the ship was found by the crew of the research vessel Alter Ego during the "Open Ocean: Arctic Archipelagos 2017" expedition using sonar at a depth of about 20 metres (70 ft), off Northbrook Island.[3][4][5]

Reputation and legacy

Despite his expertise in the Arctic, Leigh Smith's work has received little attention,[1] although he received the Royal Geographical Society's Patron's Medal in 1881.[6]

Ostrov Li-Smita (Leigh-Smith Island), lying east of Hooker Island (Franz Josef Land), is named after Leigh Smith, as are the glacier Leighbreen and Kapp (Cape) Leigh Smith on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard,[7][8]

gollark: Hmm. I think I'll come up with a nicer design.
gollark: Why do the ducts run on the outside‽
gollark: Yes.
gollark: Why the 2-high roofs?
gollark: The ship you demoed is VERY cramped.

References

Footnotes
  1. Barford, Vanessa; Feeney-Hart, Alison (28 September 2013). "Benjamin Leigh Smith: The forgotten explorer of the frozen north". BBC News Magazine. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  2. Capelotti, P.J. (2013). Shipwreck at Cape Flora: The Expeditions of Benjamin Leigh Smith, England's Forgotten Arctic Explorer. New York: University of Calgary. pp. 156–162. ISBN 9781552387122. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  3. "Open Ocean 2017". Russian Maritime Heritage Association. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  4. Gavrilo, M. (2017). ""Krasin", "St. Anna" and "Eira": on the results of the historical and commemorative expedition of the "Open Ocean: Arctic Archipelagos 2017: Tracing two captains"" (PDF). Russian Polar Studies. 29 (3): 6–8. ISSN 2218-5321. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  5. Parfitt, Tom (10 October 2017). "Polar wreck survivors' sunken ship Eira discovered in Arctic Ocean". Times online. Retrieved 11 October 2017.  (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries)
  6. "List of Past Gold Medal Winners" (PDF). Royal Geographical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  7. "Leighbreen". Norwegian Polar Institute. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  8. "Kapp Leigh Smith". Norwegian Polar Institute. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.

Bibliography
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