Austin Horatio Thomas 
 (10.03.1801–16.11.1865)

English sailor, arctic explorer. 
He began service in the navy in 1813. Over the next year, in the rank of midshipman, he participated in major operations in England’s war with the United States, including attacks on Washington, Baltimore and New Orleans. Over the next ten years, Austin served on ships cruising off the coast of Africa, on the English Channel off the coast of South America. In 1822, he was promoted to lieutenant, and in 1824 he first appeared in the Arctic. In the rank of first lieutenant on board the Fury sloop, he took part in the expedition of W. Parry, whose goal was to open the Northwest Passage. The young lieutenant shared all the difficulties and hardships of the Arctic expedition. Due to heavy ice, only on September 10, the expedition was able to reach the starting point of its march, the Prince Regent Strait. Soon the ships were forced to hibernate off the coast of Baffin Land in the northernmost part of the strait. During the ten-month wintering period, the sailors surveyed most of the east coast of the strait and partly the west coast. In the summer of 1825  the ice dragged ships north to the Strait of Barrow. Repeatedly, they ran aground, receiving serious injuries, which in the end led the Fury to complete disrepair, and it had to be thrown. 
After this expedition, Austin served in the area of the Isthmus of Panama, off the coast of Holland, Portugal, Spain, in 1831 received the rank of captain. 
In 1832–1834 Austin commanded one of the first Salamander steamers, then in 1839–1843. participated in the war with Syria, was awarded the Order of the Bath. 
Austin's second meeting with the Arctic is associated with the search for the expedition of J. Franklin. In 1850  five years after the departure of Franklin and the complete absence of any news from him, the agitated public demanded decisive action from the government and the Admiralty. Searches began to be viewed as a matter of state importance, and everyone was invited to participate in them “without distinction of nationality and citizenship”. It was decided to repeat the Ross – Richardson – Moore expedition of 1848 only on an even larger scale. Again the detachments went from three sides: west, east and south. At the head of the detachment, moving from the sea Baffin, and was put Austin. Under his command were the sailing ships "Resolute" and "Assistance", as well as the steamers Pioneer and Intrepid. The total number of team members was 180 people, among whom were later became famous F. McClintock, E. Ommanni, S. Osborne, C. Markham. On expedition equipment spent £ 134,500. 
Austin has scheduled a survey of the shores of the Lancaster and Barrow Straits. He divided the expedition, taking over the southern shores of the straits, instructing his assistant, Ommanney, the north. It was Ommanni who managed to find the first wintering place of Franklin in the area of Beachy Island and Cape Riley. 
Wintering 1850 - 1851 spent at the western end of the Strait of Barrow at the point with coordinates 74° 32′N and 95° 10′W. Austin organized a sleigh trips with three detachments, which led Ommanney, McClintock and Lieutenant Aldrich. Austin himself remained at the base. Ommanney explored the north-western tip of Prince-Wales Island, McClintock reached the southern tip of Melville Island, Cape Dundas, from which he saw Banks Island, and Aldrich examined the western coast of Bathurst Island. New traces of the expedition of Franklin, none of them found. 
In the summer of 1851  after the ships were cleared from ice, Austin, who did not believe in the success of the subsequent search, decided to return to England, after inspecting the northwest exit from the Baffin Sea -  Jones Strait. At the same time, a search expedition under the command of  W. Penny, who wanted to continue the search, acted in the same area, but for this he needed one of the ships of Austin. Austin refused the request, and both expeditions stopped searching. 
Upon his return, Penny made a claim to Austin that he did not provide him with a vessel to continue his search. To resolve the dispute, the Admiralty appointed a commission called the Arctic Committee, which included W. Parry, J. Back and F. Beachy. The committee met for 12 days, listened to the testimony of both the captains, their chief deputies and other polar explorers, and eventually published a report of 250 pages. Based on the documents and discarding oral evidence, the Committee took Austin's side, from which all the charges against Penny were dropped. Despite the official conclusion, the public was divided into two approximately equal in the number of opposing camps, on the side of Penny were such figures as Lady Jane Franklin, J. Barrow, S. Osborne. 
In general, neither Austin nor Penny suffered much from this conflict and its results. The Committee’s conclusion contained praise and gratitude to both captains for the work done and achievements, their return home was considered a reasonable and reasonable step. Penny returned to whaling, and Austin continued his successful military career. 
In 1857  Austin received the rank of Rear Admiral, occupying the post of manager of Deptford shipyard.

He died in London. He was buried in Brent County, north-west London, at Kensal-Green Cemetery (official name Cemetery of All Souls). 
Cape in the north of the island of Cornwallis in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. 
A bay in the south of Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Strait west of Bathurst Island in the Canadian Arctic archipelago.