Sir William Edward Parry

Parry, Sir William Edward (1790–1855), an English Arctic explorer. Parry commanded three expeditions to Canada in search of a northwest passage to the Pacific, 1819–25. On the first expedition he discovered the Parry Islands—including Devon, Cornwallis, and Melville islands—in 1819, and penetrated to 114º west longitude within the Arctic Circle, a new record. In 1827 Parry tried to reach the North Pole from Svalbard (Spitsbergen), using sledge boats (amphibious sleds). He reached 82º 45' north latitude, a record not broken until 1876. Parry, who entered the British navy in 1804, was knighted in 1829. He was made a rear admiral in 1852.