Photograph of a half-length portrait of Sir Edward Inglefield, standing and facing three-quarters right with his right hand on his hip. He wears a Naval Captain's jacket and cap. The eyes on the picture have been filled-in with ink.

Sir Edward Augustus Inglefield was born on the 27 March 1820 and was educated at Royal Naval College in Portsmouth. At the age of 25, he was promoted to the post of Commander. In 1852 he volunteered his services in the search for Sir John Franklin who went missing with his crew during their search for the North West Passage. Captaining the Steamship Isabel, Franklin sailed to the Arctic, stopping en route to survey the geography of the west coast of Greenland. Whilst he found no evidence of Franklin's fate, he succeeded in travelling further into Smith Sound than any previous navigator for which he received plaudits.

In 1853 Franklin again sailed to the Arctic on board HMS Phoenix but this time to deliver fresh supplies to Sir Edward Belcher who captained one of the many subsequent searches for the ill-fated Franklin. On his return to England, Inglefield relayed the news of the successful traverse of the North West Passage by members of the McClure expedition who had set out to search for Franklin in 1850.

Inglefield's final voyage to the Arctic took place in July 1854, again on HMS Phoenix, to re-supply Belcher's search party. He also took with him camera equipment that he used to photograph the people and landscape of Greenland. In September 1854, Inglefield returned to England along with members of Belcher's crew who had abandoned three of their ships that had become trapped in the ice.