The HMS North Star was fitted out in 1849 as a polar research ship, and took part in an expedition to locate Franklin in 1849, and again in 1852-54, as part of Sir Edward Belcher's expedition, with Captain William John Pullen. On this second expedition the ship was trapped in the ice for some weeks, and released in August 1854. Sir Edward Belcher's account of the expedition Last of the Arctic Voyages, published 1855, gives no clue to the identity of the crew member responsible for these photographs, presumed to be among the earliest examples of polar exploration photography.