Edward Adams (surgeon)

Adams was born at Great Barton, near Bury St Edmunds, on 24 February 1824.^[1] He became interested in natural history as a child. He qualified as a surgeon in April 1847, and in August of the same year became an assistant surgeon at the Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, before securing a transfer to the Naval Hospital in Devonport three months later.

In 1848, four months after his transfer to Devonport, he volunteered to join Sir James Clark Ross on his Arctic expedition to search for traces of Sir John Franklin's missing Northwest Passage expedition. Adams was aboard HMS Investigator under Captain Edward Joseph Bird. They left in May 1848, but returned 18 months later without success.

In January 1850, Adams left on another expedition to look for Franklin. This time he was aboard HMS Enterprise under Captain Richard Collinson. They reached the Bering Strait in August, and Adams was put ashore at St. Michael, just north of the Yukon delta, to investigate reports of possible survivors from Franklin's crew. He rejoined the Enterprise in July 1851, sailing east below Banks Island and Victoria Island, and penetrating further east than any ship previously. They returned to England in 1855.