Rae , John , 1813-1893 , Arctic explorer

Born, 1813; studied medicine at Edinburgh, 1829; licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 1833; surgeon of the Hudson's Bay Company's ship Prince of Wales, Jun 1833; surgeon at Moose Factory, the company post on James Bay, 1834-1844; lead an expedition to complete the survey of the northern coastline of North America, 1844-1847; chief trader, 1847; joined Sir John Richardson to search for Sir John Franklin, 1848-1849; chief factor, 1850; resumed the search for Franklin at the Admiralty's request, 1851; founder's gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), 1852; Fellow of the RGS, 1853-1893; led expedition to complete the survey of the north coast of America along the west coast of the Boothia peninsula, 1853-1854 - on this expedition he was the first to hear news of Franklin's fate; retired, 1856; served on the Council of the RGS on four occasions; died, 1893.