Constantine John Phipps

Title: 2nd Baron Mulgrave

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000862.0x00035a

Constantine John Phipps was born in 1744, the eldest son of the first Baron Mulgrave, a peer of Ireland. In 1760, he entered the Navy, serving in the West Indies before advancing to the rank of lieutenant in 1762 and commander in 1763. He embarked upon a career in politics in 1768 when he was elected Member of Parliament for Lincoln.

In 1773, Phipps led the British Naval North Polar Expedition, sent by the Admiralty to determine how far navigation was possible toward the North Pole from Spitsbergen. Sailing in HMS Racehorse, in company with HMS Carcass under Captain Skeffington Lutwidge, the expedition reached a farthest north of 80° 48 minutes North in July 1773 before impenetrable ice forced them to turn back. His narrative of the expedition was published in 1774.

On the death of his father in 1775, Phipps succeeded as second Baron Mulgrave and was later created a peer of Great Britain as Baron Mulgrave in 1790. In 1777, he won the parliamentary seat for Huntingdon and was appointed a lord of the Admiralty. At the Battle of Ushant in 1778, he commanded HMS Courageux, in which he remained until the end of the war in 1783. In 1784, Phipps was elected Member of Parliament for Newark-upon-Trent and was appointed joint paymaster-general of the forces, later serving as commissioner for the affairs of India. Resigning due to ill health in 1791, he died on 10 October 1792 at Liege.

Published work A voyage towards the North Pole undertaken by His Majesty's command, 1773 by Constantine John Phipps, Caedmon of Whitby Press, Whitby (1978) SPRI Library Shelf (3)91(08)[1773]

From the guide to the Constantine Phipps collection, 1773, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)