Markham , Sir , Clements Robert , 1830-1916 , Knight , geographer

Clements Markham was born in 1830. He served in the Royal Navy from 1844 to 1851, taking part in the search for Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). In 1853 he entered the civil service, being from 1867 to 1877 in charge of the geographical work of the India Office. During the latter years of the 19th century he lobbied for the resumption of Polar exploration by the United Kingdom, his pressure lying behind the 1875 Nares expedition to the Arctic. He was President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1893 to 1905 and became a Knight-Commander of the Bath in 1896. He died in 1916.