| David Buchan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1780 Scotland |
| Died | December 1838 Upton Castle at sea |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Royal Navy |
| Commands held | HMS Adonis HMS Dorothea HMS Grasshopper |
| Other work | High Sheriff of Newfoundland (1825–1835) |
David Buchan (1780 – after 8 December 1838) was a Scottish naval officer and Arctic explorer.
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In 1802 or 1803 he married Maria Adye, and she bore him at least three children.[1]
In 1806, Buchan was appointed as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and from about 1808 to 1817 he operated in and around Newfoundland. He was the leader of an 1810 expedition into the interior of Newfoundland to attempt to make contact with the dwindling native Beothuk population. They were unsuccessful.[2]
In 1818, Buchan was sent on an expedition to the North Pole. Buchan and Lieutenant John Franklin sailed the Dorothea and Trent to Spitsbergen, but they failed to advance much further north due to the ice.[3][4]
Buchan returned to Newfoundland in 1819. Although he intended to return the Beothuk woman Demasduwit to her people, she died of tuberculosis before he was able to make any additional contact with the Beothuk. Buchan later ordered additional efforts to return Demasduwit's niece, the Beothuk woman Shanawdithit, to her family but she refused to go with any European expedition. As far as she knew, all her people had died. Also, after having been with the English, she knew that any Beothuk people would sacrifice her in a religious redemption of those who had been killed before.
David Buchan was promoted to captain in the Royal Navy on 12 June 1823, but was removed from the active list the same year.[1] He was appointed High Sheriff of Newfoundland from 1825 to 1835.
In December 1838, he was declared lost at sea with the East Indiaman Upton Castle en route from Calcutta to England.[1]
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