Benjamin Leigh Smith (12 March 1828 – 4 January 1913) was an English Arctic explorer and yachtsman. He is the grandson of the Radical abolitionist William Smith.
Early life
He was born in Whatlington, Sussex, the extramarital child of Anne Longden, a milliner from Alfreton, and the Whig politician Benjamin Smith (1783–1860), the only son of William Smith, a Radical abolitionist.
On a visit to his sister in Derbyshire in 1826, Benjamin senior met Anne Longden. She became pregnant by him and he took her to a rented lodge at Whatlington, a small village near Battle, East Sussex. There she lived as "Mrs Leigh", the surname of his relations on the nearby Isle of Wight. The birth of their first child, Barbara Leigh Smith, created a scandal because the couple did not marry, and within eight weeks Anne was pregnant again. When their son Benjamin was born, the four of them went to America for two years, during which time another child was conceived.
After their return to Sussex, they lived openly together at Brown's and had two more children. Subsequently, Anne became ill with tuberculosis and died in Ryde, Isle of Wight, in 1834. Ben was only five years old.
Explorations
Between 1871 and 1882, Leigh Smith undertook five major scientific expeditions to Svalbard, Jan Mayen, and Franz Josef Land. He brought back specimens for the British Museum and Royal Botanic Gardens, as well as live polar bears for the London Zoo.
1871 expedition to Svalbard
On 19 May 1871, Leigh Smith sailed from Grimsby on board the Sampson, an 85-ton schooner built in 1852. The captain Erik Andreas Ulve and the 12 other crew members were Norwegian. The expedition stopped at Tromsø before heading to Svalbard, which was reached on 7 July. Sampson navigated through the ice around the west and north coast of Spitsbergen into Hinlopen Strait. Here Leigh-Smith surveyed what was later named Wilhelm Island, establishing that it was an island. He then continued along the north coast of Nordaustlandet, making the first confirmed sightings of 22 islands including Brochøya, Foynøya, and Schübelerøya. Throughout the voyage, Leigh Smith made a series of temperature measurements, by which he realised that the temperatures increased significantly below the surface and that the oceanic currents around Svalbard make the West side favourable for exploration. On 27 September the expedition returned to Tromsø.
1872 expedition to Jan Mayen and Svalbard
The 2nd expedition consisted of 17 men including Leigh Smith and captain John C. Wells. Crew members were signed up from Hull and the Shetland Islands. The expedition left Hull on 13 May 1872. The expedition reached Jan Mayen on 3 June. Temperature measurements at depth were taken by Wells as the crew hunted whales and seals which partly covered the expedition's cost to Leigh Smith. Sampson then continued along the edge of the ice pack to Svalbard. Here further deap sea temperature soundings by Wells further corroborated the supposed warm deep-sea current. By the island Moffen, the ship was damaged by ice and needed to be beached for repairs in Wijdefjorden. Afloat once more, the Sampson encountered at Fuglefjorden Nordenskiöld's Swedish polar expedition on their way North. Leigh Smith returned to Hull on 26 September.
1873 expedition to Svalbard
For the 3rd expedition Leigh Smith chartered James Lamont's Arctic exploration vessel Diana (crew of 17) and used Sampson (crew of 13) as a reserve supply tender. It was joined by Herbert Chermside, who was in charge of logkeeping, and naturalist Alfred Edwin Eaton. The objective was to venture beyond the northeast edge of Svalbard and also to search for Nordenskiöld's expedition which had not yet returned. On 13 June, Diana learned from a Norwegian fishing vessel at Danes Island that Nordenskiöld's expedition had been frozen in at Mosselbukta and was starving. Leigh Smith reached the 3 beset ships on the same day and aided them with his provisions. For this act of salvation he later received the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star. The expedition undertook some exploring, but did not succeed in reaching much further than previously.