Of course, Scoresby's efforts to divide the Parish of Bradford were only a small part of his time as Vicar. Little work has been done on Scoresby's time in Bradford, as indicated by the disorganised state of his Bradford papers in Whitby Museum

(...) by institutional interests. When he returned in late 1844, Scoresby learnt that his plan had been deliberately quashed. Encouraged by other frustrations, Scoresby resigned in 1846. In this letter, he wrote of his time in Bradford that "The Lord sent me here for a great thorough painful work".

Instead, Scoresby was instructed to take leave for 6 months. He took the opportunity to tour America. During his absence, the ecclesiastical commission proceeded with their own parocial division plan. Like his attempts to lead an Arctic expedition from 1817 to 1823, Scoresby had been overuled (...)

One part of this plan was the parochial subdivision of Bradford. Following advice from the Bishop of Ripon, Scoresby submitted several applications for division to the ecclesiastical commissioners. By 1844, Scoresby had grown deeply disillusioned after issues in his parish and attempted to resign.

Had Scoresby travelled with Ross, he would likely have identified the Croker Mountains as a mirage and led the expedition to spend a winter in the Arctic. Would Scoresby have found a NW passage? Likely not. What a fascinating map to have found in Whitby Museum's Scoresby papers collection!

Scoresby met with Banks and Barrow in December 1817, expecting to be offered the command of an Arctic expedition. Instead, he recieved an icy reception from Barrow, and was offered the less preferable position of a master. For the rest of his life, Scoresby regarded this offer as a snub.

John Ross' 1818 expedition was partially initiated by Scoresby's report in 1817 that ice surrounding Spitsbergen had receded. After discussing the reduction in ice with Joseph Banks and John Barrow, Scoresby pushed to lead an expedition to explore the Arctic regions. The Admiralty had other ideas.