Sir Francis Leopold McClintock KCB FRS (8 July 1819 – 17 November 1907) was an Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy, known for his discoveries in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Charles Paget (who would later marry one of his sisters, Emily Caroline) and the Lieutenant was a relation, William McClintock-Bunbury, whose son Thomas later became 2nd Lord Rathdonnell .

In 1843 he passed his examination for lieutenancy and joined the steamship "Gorgon", which was driven ashore at Montevideo and salvaged, a feat of seamanship on the part of her captain and officers that attracted much attention.

In April, he went south again and on the east coast of King William Island met other Inuit who sold him artefacts from Franklin's expedition.

William Hobson, who had separated from him, found the only written record left by Franklin's expedition buried under a cairn on the northwest corner of the island.

The document recorded Sir John Franklin's death on 11 June 1847, and also intimated Francis Crozier and James Fitzjames' plan to lead the survivors south toward the North American mainland.

McClintock's findings were of special importance for the subsequent romantification of John Franklin's figure in British culture, since the establishment of his date of death as having occurred before the ships' abandonment and the crew's failed trek south, firmly acquitted the veteran sailor from any suspicion of cannibalism.

This had been a concern since 1854, when Rae had arrived back to London with shocking reports from Inuit sources that had greatly scandalized Victorian society, particularly Lady Franklin.

[6] In 1860, McClintock took command of the paddle steamer Bulldog as part of an expedition to determine the feasibility of carrying a telegraph line from Europe to America via the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland.

[11] McClintock unsuccessfully contested a seat in parliament for the borough of Drogheda, but while there he made the acquaintance of Annette Delap, (later changed to Dunlop) and married her in 1870.