English School, circa 1832

Ross led two expeditions in search of a North-West Passage, the first, on the Isabella with Parry's Alexander in 1818, and the second, a privately funded venture on the Victory, in 1829. The Victory was beset by ice and abandoned in May 1832. Ross and his crew wintered at Fury Beach and were rescued by a whaler. The subjects of the present drawings suggest they depict incidents on Ross's second ill-fated voyage.