George Frederick Mecham (14 November 1827 – 17 February 1858) was an Irish naval officer and explorer who participated in the search for Franklin's lost expedition.

Life 
George Frederick Mecham was born in 1827 at Cove of Cork, Ireland.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1841 and was promoted to lieutenant on 8 March 1849. As a lieutenant he served from 1850 to 1852 in  under Erasmus Ommanney and from 1852 to 1854 in  under Henry Kellett, both of whom were searching for the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin.

Mecham was the first European to discover Prince Patrick and Eglinton Islands in 1853, both of which he charted in the spring of that year. He was promoted to commander on 21 October 1854 and commanded the paddle sloop  on the west coast of Africa from 1855 to 1857, and the paddle sloop  in the Pacific from 1857.

Mecham died of bronchitis on 17 February 1858 at Honolulu.

References 

19th-century Royal Navy personnel
1827 births
1858 deaths
Explorers of Canada
Explorers of the Arctic
Irish Arctic explorers
People from Cobh
Royal Navy officers
Deaths from bronchitis
Military personnel from County Cork
Irish officers in the Royal Navy
19th-century Irish explorers