Ross, Sir John, an English Arctic navigator; born in Inch, Wigtownshire, Scotland, June 24, 1777. In 1817 he accepted the command of an admiralty expedition to search for a N.W. Passage but was unsuccessful. His next expedition, in the steamer "Victory," set out in May, 1829. Ross entered Prince Regent Inlet and discovered and named Boothia Felix and King William Land. In 1832 he was forced to abandon his ships, and he and his crew suffered great hardships before they were picked up in August, 1833, by his old ship, the "Isabella." In 1834 Captain Ross was knighted, and in the following year published a narrative of his second voyage. From 1839 till 1845 he was consul at Stockholm. In 1850 he made a last Arctic voyage in the "Felix," in a vain endeavor to ascertain the fate of Sir John Franklin. He died in London, England, Aug. 30, 1856.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia,
1912.