Harry Peglar

Henry Peter Peglar (22 February 1812 – c. 1849) was an English seaman who served in the Royal Navy. He served as Captain of the Foretop, a Petty Officer rank, on HMS Terror during the 1845 Franklin Expedition, which sought to chart the Canadian Arctic, find the Northwest Passage, and make scientific observations. All expedition personnel died, including Peglar, mostly on and around King William Island. Several of his personal effects were found with a skeleton by Francis Leopold McClintock, which are among the only written materials known to belong to members of the expedition. In 2026, the skeleton was positively identified as belonging to Peglar. Earlier in his career, he engaged in anti-slavery operations in West Africa and served in the First Opium War. Harry Peglar was born to John and Sarah Peglar on 22 February 1812 and was baptized on 29 November 1813 alongside his sister Elizabeth, who had been born in 1810. His father was a gunsmith working at 12 Buckingham Row, Petty France, City of Westminster, England. John Peglar was a political radical who voted for Francis Burdett. Harry Peglar was received by the Marine Society, a charitable organization for helping destitute boys and training seamen, on 4 August 1825.