Beechey Island

Beechey Island is an island located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada, in Wellington Channel. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait. Other features include Wellington Channel, Erebus Harbour, and Terror Bay.The first European visit the island was in 1819 by Captain William Edward Parry. The island was named after the artist William Beechey by his son Frederick William Beechey who was then serving as Parry's lieutenant.It is the site of several very significant events in the history of Arctic exploration. In 1845, the British explorer Sir John Franklin, commanding a new but ill-fated search for the Northwest Passage aboard HMSs Erebus and Terror, chose the protected harbor of Beechey Island for his first winter encampment. The site was not discovered until 1851 when British and American search vessels anchored nearby.