'Mr [Donald] Manson, Ice Master in Isabel and Phoenix'

Photograph of a head and shoulders length portrait of Mr Donald Manson (1792-1880), Ice Master of the Isabel and HMS Phoenix. He faces the viewer and wears a wide brimmed, tarred hat. He also wears a scarf and a large overcoat. This portrait may have been taken on board the ship.

As a veteran of over 40 whaling voyages and with specialist knowledge of steering a ship through ice floes, Donald Manson joined Edward Augustus Inglefield and the crew of HMS Phoenix on 9 March 1854. Manson accompanied Edward Augustus Inglefield on all three of his voyages to the Arctic regions. The first was on board Lady Franklin's private steam ship the Isabel in 1852 during which, Inglefield was the first navigator to travel the furthest north into the Smith Sound off Greenland's north west coast. Manson was Harbourmaster at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire until 1871.