Not much I could find on the ALEXANDER, she was chartered by the Royal Navy in 1818, she was a whaler and converted and fitted out for the John Ross polar expedition to find the Northwest Passage together with the ISABELLA (see for her details the index).
15 January 1818 commissioned.
Both ships underwent strengthening and were fitted out for a voyage of 26 months. The expedition ships were the first to use canned meat.
Tonnage of ALEXANDER was 252 tons, where built and dimensions I could not find.
Rigged as a brig.
18 April 1818 both ships sailed from the River Thames, the ALEXANDER under command of Lieut. William Edward Parry and a crew of 37 total.
01 June the expedition reached the eastern side of the Davis’s Strait and on 3 July the Danish and Eskimo settlements in Greenland.
After entering the Lancaster Sound Ross sighted mountains ahead who he named Croker Mountains, and believing that Lancaster Sound was a bay and not a passage to the Northwest Passage he returned to the U.K.
The mountains Ross was seeing, most probably was a mirage, the next expedition one year later under command of Parry sailed over the mountain range.
09 November 1818 the two ships arrived at the road of Grimsby.
15 November 1818 arrived at the Deptford Dockyard.
What happened thereafter is not known, most probably handed back to the owners, the name ALEXANDER is a common ships name searching for her is difficult, but more info is welcome.
The Greenland Post gives the following by the issues:
John Ross and Sakæus
– their 1818 North
Greenland Expedition
By Niels Frandsen, historian and archivist
In 1818 the British expedition led by Captain John Ross was sent out to find the Northwest Passage, the sea route north of the Americas. One of the expedition
members Sakæus, called John Sacheuse, was a Greenlander who worked as an interpreter.
Sakæus was born about 1792, but was soon left an orphan. He was living in Ilulissat, West Greenland.
In May 1816 he paddled far out in his kayak and was picked up by the whaling ship “THOMAS & ANN”. Captain Newton offered to set Sakæus ashore but he
declined and joined the crew to Leith, Scotland.
Onboard he learnt how to speak and write English. In Scotland he learnt how to draw.
The Ross expedition with Sakæus onboard reached Cape York, North Greenland, on 9th August 1818. There they spotted men on sledges. Sakæus called out and the sealers replied. However, when the ship came closer the men fled to a safe distance. Ross sent a boat ashore with gifts, such as knives, clothes etc. These were laid out for the sealers to examine. But still the locals kept a distance and Ross sent another boat with a sledgedog wearing blue pearl leashes around its neck.
Ross sailed on but had to return a few hours later. The gifts were still there, so Ross made a third attempt, in vain, to establish contact by putting up a pole with more gifts.
On the next day Ross saw the men had returned but still they did not touch the gifts. Sakæus offered to approach the men unarmed and with even more gifts. He walked up to a lead in the ice and made a sign to make the men come closer. Four of them did but stopped at a good distance and shouted. Sakæus shouted back. The men approached a little closer and, when they noticed that Sakæus was unable to cross the lead in the ice, they showed more courage and three of them walked up to the lead, while the fourth
man stayed by the sledge.
Sakæus threw some pearls and a shirt to the men on the other side and, later on, a knife. It turned out that Sakæus was able to speak with the men, although the dialects differed somewhat. The men asked if the strangers came from the sun or the moon. Zakæus
replied that he was a human, just like them and came from a country far to the south. The men did not believe him since there seemed to be nothing but ice in that direction.
They then suggested Sakæus crossed the lead and he fetched a plank. Then he walked to the other side and convinced the men that he was indeed a human being. Since contact had now been made, Ross and expedition members joined the Greenlanders on the
ice with more gifts. From the other side more sealers joined the group of men on the ice.
After a while some of the locals were persuaded to come onboard one of the ships. There they were treated very well, and when they left they received more gifts.
During the next two days no contact was made on account of the weather. However, on the following three days the crew received new visitors. They were other locals who had heard of the strangers and had the courage to approach with no fear. With Sakæus
acting as an interpreter, Ross collected much valuable information about the Polar Eskimos.
The expedition returned to Great Britain in November and Sakæus settled in Edinburgh where he died on 14th February 1819. Ross embarked on new expeditions from 1829 to 1833 and again in 1850.
He died in 1856.
John Ross Sakæus
Note: When it comes to Zakæus’ year of birth reseachers’ opinions are divided. On the stamp G452 we have printed ‘1797’. This data was recommended by scholars at The National Museum in Copenhagen. However, in this presentation ‘1792’ has been used. This data reflects the opinion among scholars at Greenland
Greenland 2010 32 Kr. Sg?, scott?