Henry Parkyns Hoppner
Encyclopedia
Captain Henry Parkyns Hoppner (1795, London
– 22 December 1833, Lisbon
) was an officer of the Royal Navy
, Arctic
explorer, and draughtsman
/artist
. His career included two ill-fated voyages culminating in the loss of in 1816 and HMS Fury
in 1825.
Born in London, Hoppner was the fourth child of English portrait
ist John Hoppner
and Phoebe Wright (1761–1827), daughter of American sculptor Patience Lovell Wright. Not much is known of his younger sibling. There were three older brothers whom the father painted in the 1791 oil on canvas, The Hoppner Children, a part of the National Gallery of Art
's Widener collection
:
and the War of 1812
. His first shipboard experience was on HMS Endymion
when she was ordered to Corruna
. In 1815, he was commissioned as a junior lieutenant. The following year, he served aboard the ill-fated Alceste under Capt. Murray Maxwell
, escorting Lord Amherst to China on a diplomatic mission to the Chinese Emperor
Jiaqing
. With the Alceste shipwrecked, Hoppner switched to the East Indiaman Lion in order to assist his shipwrecked comrades.
In 1818, Lieutenant
Hoppner served on the Alexander as second in command under Lieutenant William Edward Parry
during Captain John Ross
' British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition of 1818, who commanded HMS Isabella.
Hoppner participated in three additional Arctic voyages under Parry's command:
Hoppner's artistic and creative talents were useful during these voyages. His illustrations were published with the expedition narratives of John Ross and Parry. In addition, Hoppner participated for two seasons in the Royal Arctic Theatre, established by Parry to relieve boredom during the long Arctic winters. Hoppner is also credited with organizing "bals masqués", masquerade ball
s held each month while overwintering in the Arctic. Regarding the masquerades, Parry remarked, "It is impossible that any other idea could have proved more happy, or more exactly suited to our situation."
. Hoppner's request to accompany Admiral Ross in 1829 was rejected.
Hoppner never married. In 22 December 1833, he died in Lisbon during a trip through southern Europe.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
– 22 December 1833, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
) was an officer of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
explorer, and draughtsman
Technical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....
/artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. His career included two ill-fated voyages culminating in the loss of in 1816 and HMS Fury
HMS Fury (1814)
HMS Fury was a Hecla-class bomb vessel. Built in the 1810s, she saw wartime service in an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August, 1816, captained by Constantine Richard Moorsom. The ship after it left his command was converted to an Arctic exploration ship.The Fury made two journeys to the...
in 1825.
Early years
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
ist John Hoppner
John Hoppner
John Hoppner was an English portrait painter, .-Early life:Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents - his mother was one of the German attendants at the royal palace. King George's fatherly interest and patronage of the young boy gave rise to rumours, quite unfounded,...
and Phoebe Wright (1761–1827), daughter of American sculptor Patience Lovell Wright. Not much is known of his younger sibling. There were three older brothers whom the father painted in the 1791 oil on canvas, The Hoppner Children, a part of the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
's Widener collection
Joseph E. Widener
Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C...
:
- Catherine Hampden Hoppner (1784–1828), MagistrateMagistrateA magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
in the service of the East India CompanyEast India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China... - Richard Belgrave Hoppner (1786–1872), British Consul general at VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, - Wilson (sometimes known as William) Lascelles Hoppner (1788–?), artist
Career
Hoppner joined the Royal Navy in 1808, and served during the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. His first shipboard experience was on HMS Endymion
HMS Endymion (1797)
HMS Endymion was a 40-gun fifth rate that served in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812 and during the First Opium War. She was built to the lines of the French prize captured in 1794...
when she was ordered to Corruna
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
. In 1815, he was commissioned as a junior lieutenant. The following year, he served aboard the ill-fated Alceste under Capt. Murray Maxwell
Murray Maxwell
Captain Sir Murray Maxwell, CB, FRS was a British Royal Navy officer who served with distinction in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, particularly during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
, escorting Lord Amherst to China on a diplomatic mission to the Chinese Emperor
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
Jiaqing
Jiaqing Emperor
The Jiaqing Emperor was the seventh emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1796 to 1820....
. With the Alceste shipwrecked, Hoppner switched to the East Indiaman Lion in order to assist his shipwrecked comrades.
In 1818, Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Hoppner served on the Alexander as second in command under Lieutenant William Edward Parry
William Edward Parry
Sir William Edward Parry was an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer, who in 1827 attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole...
during Captain John Ross
John Ross (Arctic explorer)
Sir John Ross, CB, was a Scottish rear admiral and Arctic explorer.Ross was the son of the Rev. Andrew Ross, minister of Inch, near Stranraer in Scotland. In 1786, aged only nine, he joined the Royal Navy as an apprentice. He served in the Mediterranean until 1789 and then in the English Channel...
' British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition of 1818, who commanded HMS Isabella.
Hoppner participated in three additional Arctic voyages under Parry's command:
- Parry's First Arctic Expedition, 1819–1820, subordinate lieutenant, on board HMS Griper under Lt. Matthew Liddon, while Parry commanded HMS HeclaHMS Hecla (1815)HMS Hecla was a Royal Navy Hecla-class bomb vessel of 372 tons. Launched on 15 July 1815, she saw wartime service in an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August, 1816...
. - Parry's Second Arctic Expedition, 1821–1823, lieutenant, on board the Hecla, under Commander George Francis LyonGeorge Francis LyonGeorge Francis Lyon was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite...
, while Parry commanded the Fury. Having surveyed an arm of the Foxe BasinFoxe BasinNot to be confused with Fox Bay, Falkland IslandsFoxe Basin is a shallow oceanic basin north of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, located between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula...
's Lyon Inlet on the Melville PeninsulaMelville PeninsulaMelville Peninsula is a large peninsula in the Canadian Arctic. Since 1999, it has been part of Nunavut. Before that, it was part of the District of Franklin. It's separated from Southampton Island by Frozen Strait. The narrow isthmus connecting the peninsula to the mainland is styled the “Rae...
, Hopper Inlet was named in his honour by Parry. - Parry's Third Arctic Expedition, 1824–1825: While Parry commanded the Hecla, Hoppner, having attained the rank of Commander, served as second in command of the expedition and commanded the Fury. Hoppner's two lieutenants were Horatio Thomas AustinHoratio Thomas AustinSir Horatio Thomas Austin was a British officer in the Royal Navy, and an explorer of the Canadian arctic. Following the 1849 failure of James Clark Ross's attempt to locate the lost Franklin Expedition, Austin led an 1850 expedition that also attempted to find Sir John Franklin and his crew....
and James Clark RossJames Clark RossSir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...
. Suffering from ice damage while overwintering, the ship's stores were unloaded onto the ice, and the Fury was abandoned on 25 August 1825 at Fury Beach on Somerset Island. Upon returning to England, the requisite court martial found Hoppner "no blame whatever", and in December, he was promoted to the rank of Commander. Over the next few decades, the Fury's abandoned provisions came to the rescue of many Arctic explorers, including that of (now Admiral) John Ross.
Hoppner's artistic and creative talents were useful during these voyages. His illustrations were published with the expedition narratives of John Ross and Parry. In addition, Hoppner participated for two seasons in the Royal Arctic Theatre, established by Parry to relieve boredom during the long Arctic winters. Hoppner is also credited with organizing "bals masqués", masquerade ball
Masquerade ball
A masquerade ball is an event which the participants attend in costume wearing a mask. - History :...
s held each month while overwintering in the Arctic. Regarding the masquerades, Parry remarked, "It is impossible that any other idea could have proved more happy, or more exactly suited to our situation."
Later years
Ill-health kept him from accompanying Parry in 1827 during his attempt on the North PoleNorth Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
. Hoppner's request to accompany Admiral Ross in 1829 was rejected.
Hoppner never married. In 22 December 1833, he died in Lisbon during a trip through southern Europe.
Honours
Several Canadian landforms were named in his honour, including:- Cape HoppnerCape HoppnerCape Hoppner is a land point on Melville Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. It juts into the southern section of Liddon Gulf across from Barry Bay.The cape was named in honor of the Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer Henry Parkyns Hoppner....
in the Northwest TerritoriesNorthwest TerritoriesThe Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south... - Hoppner InletHoppner InletHoppner Inlet is an arm of Foxe Basin's Lyon Inlet on southern Melville Peninsula in Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada.It was first surveyed by the Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer Lieutenant Henry Parkyns Hoppner during William Edward Parry's Second Arctic Expedition of 1821-1823, and...
, Hoppner RiverHoppner RiverThe Hoppner River flows northward from the mainland into Dolphin and Union Strait at the juncture with the Amundsen Gulf in Nunavut, Canada...
, Hoppner StraitHoppner StraitHoppner Strait is a narrow arm of Foxe Basin east of Lyon Inlet in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is situated between Winter Island and the Melville Peninsula....
in NunavutNunavutNunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993... - Hoppner IslandHoppner IslandHoppner Island is an island in Ontario's Georgian Bay.The island is one of several landforms named in honor of Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer Henry Parkyns Hoppner who surveyed the region during William Edward Parry's First, Second, and Third Arctic Expeditions....
in OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
External links
- Burnet Inlet, Barrow's Strait, from a sketch by Henry Parkyns Hoppner
- Photo, Fury beach, Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada
- http://books.google.com/books?id=ARLKmH794L8C&pg=RA1-PA35&lpg=RA1-PA35&dq=%22HP+Hoppner%22&source=web&ots=v8FrFZjXFG&sig=zDtc7WhHXoZN207fa32ZHNKawRI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=resultTranscript of 1832 letter to English physicist Michael FaradayMichael FaradayMichael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
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