Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition

Savours, Ann; Beattie, Owen; Geiger, John

doi:10.2307/633870

Cited by 13 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Barrow would be long dead before The Lancet held the Admiralty responsible for the total loss of the Franklin expedition. The detailed history of the expedition, and in particular the role of the Admiralty, is found principally in Lambert (2009), and texts by Beattie and Geiger (2004), Cyriax (1939), Hutchinson (2017), Palin (2018), Potter (2016) and Woodman (1991). As the chronology has also been summarised in many articles in this journal and will be familiar to readers, the present summary will focus upon events which drew The Lancet's comments during the fourteen-year-long search for the expedition and will include references to the expedition's progress recorded in the single-page "Victory Point record" written by Commander (later, Captain) James Fitzjames and discovered on King William Island.…”

Section: The Lancet the Admiralty And The Franklin Expeditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Victorian prescience: The Lancet medical journal and the loss of the Franklin expedition, 1845–1859

Millar

2023

Polar Record

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The loss of Sir John Franklin’s Arctic expedition has provoked speculation about the cause of the fatal outcome from the expedition’s departure in 1845 to the present day. This study describes how The Lancet, first published in 1823 and now one of the world’s leading medical journals, drew conclusions at the time of the expedition’s loss, which closely parallel those of today’s most recent research. The journal took evidence from Arctic medical and naval experts to conclude in 1859 that the Admiralty’s misdirected searches committed the crews to ice-bound entrapment, which had fatal nutritional consequences. The Lancet’s prescience has been supported by recent research showing that the unique physical circumstances faced by the expedition had nutritional effects related to vitamin deficiencies, which explain mortality over the third winter and the eventual total loss. It is significant that, although published 160 years apart and with vitamins unknown in the Victorian era, both studies took robust evidence-based approaches to draw similar conclusions.

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Section: The Lancet the Admiralty And The Franklin Expeditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Victorian prescience: The Lancet medical journal and the loss of the Franklin expedition, 1845–1859

Millar

2023

Polar Record

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“…Over the next several years, British and American search and rescue expeditions resulting in nearly 40 ships scoured the Canadian Arctic in search of news of the expedition (Cyriax, 1951;Gillies Ross, 2002;Schwatka & Stackpole, 1965;Wright, 1959). In 1850, graves and relics were found on Beechey Island indicating that the expedition had overwintered at that location in 1845-1846 (Beattie, 1987). In 1854, Inuit testimony given to Dr John Rae of the Hudson's Bay Company indicated that many white men had died of starvation along the shores of King William Island (KWI) and west of the Back River (formerly Great Fish River) (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sŭ-pung-er’s pillar: The recent significant discovery of a relic related to the Franklin Expedition

Taichman

2023

Polar Record

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In 1866, Charles F. Hall recorded testimony from a Pelly Bay native named Sŭ-pung-er who reported that together with his uncle, they had visited the Northwest coast of King William Island 4 years prior in search of materials abandoned by the Franklin Expedition. Sŭ-pung-er told Hall that he had identified a site which Hall believed was a “vault” which might contain documents and speculated that it could have been a burial site for a high-ranking officer. Sŭ-pung-er’s testimony also included the description of a wooden “pillar, stick or post” which marked the spot of the vault. The location of this site and the pillar have never been found. Yet they remain sought-after for both their significance and the potential bonanza of information about the expedition. Any clue or artefact, which could provide clarity for this site, is therefore of great value. This paper describes a model of the pillar seen on King Williams Island, replicated by Sŭ-pung-er, which Hall brought back from the Arctic and included in his list of Franklin relics. The model, now housed in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, was first featured in a drawing of relics appearing in 1869 in Harper’s Weekly magazine. The fact that this artefact has been in plain sight for so long, but unrecognised for what it is, is significant. The pillar model both provides clarity and continues the mystery surrounding the Franklin Expedition.

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