This was because of his preparedness and leadership: adapting the dress and survival techniques of the Inuit peoples, bringing a custom-made kayak for independent travel away from the ship, stopping in Greenland to purchase a dog-sled team, and asking the locals for the best routes and information of the area.

They returned to Britain in October 1852 without losing any men, having recorded the flora, fauna, and cartography of the area; a first for any Arctic exploration to that date.

After two years trading around the South American coast while trying to find another crew willing to sail to the Arctic, he gave up and returned the Isabel to England in 1855.

Before and after the Lady Franklin expedition Kennedy wrote several open letters to the Globe newspaper, which were printed, and received a great deal of attention.

These letters questioned the leaders of Upper and Lower Canada for enabling the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) to govern Rupert's Land when they didn't have the legal authority.

By 1860, Captain Kennedy settled at his family home in the Red River Settlement with his wife, Eleanor Cripps (a friend of Lady Franklin).

During this period he operated a store with his brother George, eventually becoming active in the community as a magistrate, and member of the Board of Education of Manitoba.

By the 1880s, his niece's husband, John Norquay the Premier of Manitoba, recruited Captain Kennedy to be an active voice for the development of a railway from Winnipeg to Churchill.

Kennedy's home still exists as the Red River House Museum at St. Andrews, which highlights the unique architecture from this era, and showcases his belongings from his period.