John Rae

John Rae (1813-1893) was an Arctic explorer, a native of Stromness in the Orkney Islands. After studying medicine at Edinburgh and went into the service of the Hudson Bay Company as a doctor. In 1846 he first ventured on an expedition, and in 1848 joined Sir John Richardson[?] in searching for the North West Passage[?]. In 1853, he was involved in exploring King William's Land, and made contact with the Inuit. In 1860 he worked on the telegraph line to America, visiting Iceland and Greenland. In 1864 he made a further telegraph survey in the west of Canada. He is buried in St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall[?].