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Edward Bransfield (c. 1785 – 31 October 1852) rose to become an officer in the British Royal Navy, serving as a master on several ships, after being impressed into service at the age of eighteen in Ireland, where he was born. He is noted for exploring parts of Antarctica, sighting the Trinity Peninsula in January 1820. ==Early life== Edward Bransfield was born in Ballinacurra, County Cork, Ireland, in c.1785. While little is known of Edward's family or early life, the Bransfields were thought to have been a well-known and respected Catholic family.〔Michael Smith, ''Great Endeavour: Ireland's Antarctic Explorers'', Dublin: The Collins Press, 2010, p. 10.〕 The Bransfields may have had enough money to pay for Edward's education, but because of the Penal Laws, it is more likely that he attended a local hedge school. On 2 June 1803, Bransfield, then eighteen years old, was removed by British sailors from his father's fishing boat and impressed into the Royal Navy.〔Michael Smith, ''Great Endeavour: Ireland's Antarctic Explorers'', Dublin: The Collins Press, 2010, p. 10.〕 He began as an ordinary seaman on the 110-gun first rate ship of the line , where he shared living quarters with William Edward Parry, then a twelve-year-old midshipman. He later also became known in Polar exploration.〔Michael Smith, ''Great Endeavour: Ireland's Antarctic Explorers'', Dublin: The Collins Press, 2010, p. 12.〕 Bransfield was rated as an able seaman in 1805 and was appointed to the 110-gun first rate (which had taken part in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805); he was promoted in 1806 to able seaman, then 2nd master's mate in 1808, midshipman in 1808, clerk in 1809, and midshipman again in 1811. By 1812 he had achieved the rank of second master, and in the same year he was made acting master on , a 10-gun ''Cherokee''-class brig-sloop. Between the years 1814 and 1816, he served briefly, as master on many fifth rate ships. On 21 February 1816, he was appointed master of the 50-gun fourth rate , leading it in the Bombardment of Algiers. During September 1817, he was appointed master of HMS ''Andromache'' under the command of Captain W H Shirreff. It was during this tour of duty that he was posted to the Royal Navy's new Pacific Squadron off Valparaíso in Chile. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Edward Bransfield」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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