William Kennedy (1813-1890), Sailor

Sitter in 2 portraits
Born in Saskatchewan and educated in Scotland, Kennedy returned to Canada to work for the Hudson Bay Company for eight years. In 1851, Kennedy led an expedition, privately financed by Lady Franklin, in search of her husband, Sir John Franklin. At Batty Bay he left the ship, Prince Albert, and travelled for 97 days, covering 1100 miles with dogs and sledges. Kennedy returned to Aberdeen at the end of 1852 and, although he was unsuccessful in his search for Franklin and his crew, he found new routes to crossing the Arctic and made precise charts of the whole area. In 1853 Kennedy published his experiences in A short narrative of the second voyage of the Prince Albert, in search of Sir John Franklin.