The crossing was difficult, and by the time he had reached the last known position of the whalers in June, all but one had managed to return home. They accepted his offer, and he set sail in HMS Cove in January 1836. In December 1835 he offered his services to the Admiralty to resupply 11 whaling ships which had become trapped in Baffin Bay. On 28 October 1834 Ross was promoted to captain. Ross then served as supernumerary-commander of HMS Victory in Portsmouth for 12 months. It was on this trip, too, that Ross charted the Beaufort Islands, later renamed Clarence Islands by his uncle. It was during this trip that a small party led by James Ross (including Thomas Abernethy) located the position of the north magnetic pole on 1 June 1831, on the Boothia Peninsula in the far north of Canada, and James Ross personally planted the British flag at the pole. From 1829 to 1833 Ross again served under his uncle on John's second Arctic voyage. This was also where he served as midshipman with Francis Crozier, who would later become his close friend and second-in-command. Between 18 Ross took part in four Arctic expeditions under William Edward Parry, taking particular interest in magnetism and natural history. Ross participated in John's unsuccessful first Arctic voyage in search of a Northwest Passage in 1818 aboard Isabella. Arctic exploration Illustration of the discovery of the North Magnetic Pole on the Boothia Peninsula in 1831, from Robert Huish's 1835 book.

Ross then served successively with his uncle on HMS Actaeon and HMS Driver. Ross was an active participant in the Napoleonic Wars, being present at an action where HMS Briseis, commanded by his uncle, captured Le Petit Poucet (a French privateer) on 9 October 1812. Ross was born in London, the son of George Ross and nephew of John Ross, under whom he entered the Royal Navy on 5 April 1812.

Sir James Clark Ross DCL FRS FLS FRAS (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and polar explorer known for his explorations of the Arctic, participating in two expeditions led by his uncle John Ross, and four led by William Edward Parry, and, in particular, for his own Antarctic expedition from 1839 to 1843.

Map of antarctica mount erebus