Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Doyle was the doctor on the Greenland whaler Hope of Peterhead in 1880. On 11 July 1880 John Gray's Hope and David Gray's Eclipse met up with the Eira and Leigh Smith. The photographer W.J.A. Grant took a photograph aboard the Eira of Doyle along with Smith, the Gray brothers, and ship's surgeon William Neale, who were members of the Smith expedition. That expedition explored Franz Josef Land, and led to the naming, on 18 August, of Cape Flora, Bell Island, Nightingale Sound, Gratton ("Uncle Joe") Island, and Mabel Island.

On board the EIRA in 1880 by courtesy of Arthur Credland Hull Museums. On July 11th 1880 the Eira is on her way to the Arctic when she meets up with two other Peterhead ships, the Hope and the Eclipse. The meeting is recorded in this historic photograph taken on the aft deck of the Eira. From left to right are: David Gray at the helm (Capt. Eclipse), Benjamin Leigh-Smith (Capt./owner Eira), Arthur Conan Doyle (Surgeon Hope), John Gray (Capt. Hope), Dr.Walker and Dr.Neale, and William Lofley (ice master Eira) right at the stern. Conan Doyle was then an undergraduate at Edingburgh University and his Arctic experiences on board the Hope lead to his taking up the pen as the spiritual father of Sherlock Holmes and publishing "The captain of the Polestar" in 1883.


On the 14th of June 1881 Ben again sails with the Eira and 25 crew, a cat, a canary and Bob the dog who was to prove invaluable to the expedition. His goal: the discovery of new territories North of those discovered in 1880, as well as a study of the deep sea currents and their influence and more specifically the Gulf Stream.

Benjamin Leigh Smith

Benjamin Leigh Smith was the father of the Leigh Smith girls .

There is a very nice blog by his grandson
At the time he lived at Hastings and also was an explorer in the arctic.
The three Samworth girls and the three Leigh Smith girls enjoyed painting expeditions around Hastings. Barbara studied art at Bedford Square Ladies College (London) during 1849 and gained some reknown as a painter. Some of her work is held at Hastings Museum; other paintings are at Girton College, Cambridge. The Hastings & St Leonards Observer wrote (in 1891) of her paintings:
The Samworth girls ,(we know Frances Samworth married Jerome Nicholas Vlieland) and  the Leigh Smith girls were also traveling to Europe together.

Benjamin Leigh Smith was born in Whatlington, Sussex, the extramarital child of Anne Longden, a milliner from Alfreton, and the Whig politician Benjamin Smith (1783–1860), the only son of William Smith, a Radical abolitionist.

On a visit to his sister in Derbyshire in 1826, Benjamin senior met Anne Longden. She became pregnant by him and he took her to a rented lodge at Whatlington, a small village near Battle, East Sussex. There she lived as "Mrs Leigh", the surname of his relations on the nearby Isle of Wight. The birth of their first child, Barbara Leigh Smith,(married name Barbara Bodichon) created a scandal because the couple did not marry, and within eight weeks Anne was pregnant again. When their son Benjamin was born, the four of them went to America for two years, during which time another child was conceived.

After their return to Sussex, they lived openly together at Brown's and had two more children. Subsequently Anne became ill with tuberculosis and died in Ryde, Isle of Wight, in 1834. Ben was only five years old.

Between 1871 and 1882, Leigh Smith undertook five major scientific expeditions to Svalbard and Franz Josef Land. He brought back specimens for the British Museum and Royal Botanic Gardens, as well as live polar bears for the London Zoo. By his fourth expedition, Leigh Smith's enthusiasm for Arctic exploration had advanced to the point that he had his own vessel—Eira—specially built.


Eira

The foundering of the Eira in 1881

Eira was built at the Scottish shipyard of Stephen & Forbes at Peterhead as a three-masted, steam-equipped screw barquentine from 1879 to 1880. John and David Gray pioneered steam engine ships and the Eira was designed along the lines of the whaler Hope and Windward. At 125 feet (38 m) long and 360 tons the Eira was seven feet longer and forty tons heavier that the Windward—built in 1866 with a 30 hp steam engine—but an otherwise close copy. The ships hull was three feet thick and the bow had a thickness of eight feet. After launching the Eira was towed to Aberdeen where a 50 hp steam engine was installed.

Eira Lodge on Bell Island

On 19 June 1880, the ship left Aberdeen with Captain William Lofley, captain of the Hull, as ice master, two mates, two engineers, and 17 men. On 20 June, four Shetlanders were picked up at Lerwick for the voyage and exploration of Svalbard. On 11 July, John Gray's Hope and David Gray's Eclipse met up with the Eira and Leigh Smith. Photographer William John Alexander Grant took a photograph aboard the Eira that included Arthur Conan Doyle along with Leigh Smith, the Gray brothers, and ships surgeon William Neale.

This was the exploration of Franz Josef Land, that on 18 August, resulted in the naming of Cape Flora, Bell Island, Nightingale Sound, Gratton ("Uncle Joe") Island, and Mabel Island. 

Leigh Smith discovered and named Brochøya, Foynøya, and 31 other points in northeast Svalbard. In 1881, he and his crew survived for 10 months in Russian Franz Josef Land after their ship was crushed in the ice at Cape Flora, Northbrook Island.

In August 2017, the ship was found by the crew of the research vessel Alter Ego during the "Open Ocean: Arctic Archipelagos 2017" expedition using sonar at a depth of about 20 metres (70 ft), off Northbrook Island.

Despite his expertise in the Arctic, Leigh Smith's work has received little attention, although he received the Royal Geographical Society's Patron's Medal in 1881.

Ostrov Li-Smita (Leigh-Smith Island), lying east of Hooker Island (Franz Josef Land), is named after Leigh Smith, as are the glacier Leighbreen and Kapp (Cape) Leigh Smith on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard,

If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain.

Every year we try and make a cruise ,

This year because of Ilness and corona it was not possible.

And then you go to the beach and what do you see .

Something never happened before and we hope will never happen again.

Cruiseships on our horizon.

There are at the moment still 120 cruiseships anchored all over the world ,for the coast of Australia,Holland,Coco Cay.

The crew is not allowed, or cannot go home because there are no flights home or they are not allowed in ports or countries.

So there are 120.000 people stuck on these ships.

Some company's bring their crew back with those ships.

But for now we enjoy the sight of those ships and maybe they sent a tender to pick us up.

We thank the crew for the happy times they gave us and hope we will meet again,don't know where and don't know when.

John Parker

John Parker(jr) was the son of  John Parker and Mary and born on 07/04/1833 in Burgh St Peter Norfolk.
He married Maria Heath Vlieland
We know a lot about their children , but we like to know more about his father  go back in time to his father John Parker(sr)  and his wife Mary and the census of 1851.

Household	Role	Sex	Age	Birthplace
John Parker	Head	M	50	Blundeston, Suffolk miller windmill hill
Mary Parker	Wife	F	43	Poringland, Norfolk
John Parker	Son	M	18	Burgh St Peter, Norfolk
George Parker	Son	M	16	Burgh St Peter, Norfolk
Mary Ann Parker	Daughter	F	10	Poringland, Norfolk
William Arthur Parker	Son	M	8	Poringland, Norfolk
Susan Parker	Son	F	4	Poringland, Norfolk
Martha Minns	Servant	F	20	Rockland, Norfolk

census 1861 

Household

Role

Sex

Age

Birthplace

John Parker

Head

Male

60

Blundeston, Suffolk miller and farmer 

Mary Parker

Wife

Female

53

Poringland, Norfolk

John Parker

Son

Male

28

Burgh St Peter, Norfolk cord and leed merchant 

Mary Ann Parker

Daughter

Female

20

William Parker

Son

Male

18

Poringland, Norfolk

Susan Parker

Daughter

Female

14

Poringland, Norfolk

John Henry Parker

Nephew

Male

5

Vertue Ruffett

Servant

Female

17

Surlingham, Norfolk

census 1871

John Parker Head Male 70
Blundeston, Suffolk widowed farmer 39 acres employs 3 men
Susan Parker Daughter Female 24 Poringland, Norfolk
Julia M Parker Niece Female 17 Bixley, Norfolk
John H Parker Nephew Male 15 Bixley, Norfolk
Elizabeth Wymer Servant Female 19Wicklewood, Norfolk

John Parker was a miller,farmer and a wherrymen as we see in the census and birthcertificates .
He was born in 1801 in Blundeston.

Edith Maria Parker

Name: Edith Mary Parker
Event Type: Christening
Event Date: 21 Mar 1873
Event Place: Norwich, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom
Event Place (Original): Norwich, Norfolk, England
Gender: Female
Father's Name: John Parker
Mother's Name: Maria Heath

census 1891
John Parker Head Male 56 Norfolk, England widowed ,seed merchant
Edith M Parker Daughter Female 18 Norfolk, England housekeeper
Percy J Parker Son Male 14 Norfolk, England grocers apprentice
George F Parker Son Male 13 Norfolk, England at school
Grace E Parker Daughter Female 11 Norfolk, England at school.