BELCHER, SIR EDWARD (1799-1877), British naval officer, entered the navy in 1812. In 1825 he accompanied Fred erick William Beechey's expedition to the Pacific and Bering strait, as a surveyor. He subsequently commanded a surveying ship on the north and west coasts of Africa and in the British seas, and in 1836 took up the work which Beechey left unfinished on the Pacific coast of South America. In 1852 he was given command of the Government Arctic expedition in search of Sir John Franklin. This, which proved an unsuitable appointment, was his last commission; he became K.C.B. in 1867 and an ad miral in 1872. He published, Narrative of a Voyage round the World performed in H.M.S. "Sulphur," 1836-1842 Nar rative of the Voyage of H.M.S "Samarang" during 1843-1846 (1848 ; the Zoology of the Voyage was separately dealt with by some of his colleagues, 1850), and The Last of the Arctic Voyages (1855), besides minor works. He died in London on March 18,