Hall, United States Franklin Search Expedition, 1864-1869

• MS 248/418/3;D Journal extracts, 1868 to 2 January 1869 [Eskimo reports of white men's tracks near Repulse Bay] 11 leaves
• MS 248/415/1;D Reply to questions by Jane, Lady Franklin, 1869 [Regarding discoveries relating to Sir John Franklin]

In 1845 Sir John Franklin sailed north in command of the British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition. Sent by the Admiralty the two ships HMS Erebus (Franklin) and HMS Terror (Francis Crozier) were to search for a passage via Lancaster Sound. With provisions designed to last three years the expedition sailed north in May 1845. Whalers in Baffin Bay were the last Europeans to see the two ships in July of 1845.

Many searches were conducted for the missing expedition during the course of which the main facts regarding the route taken and the final fate of the expedition were established.

The United States Franklin Search Expedition, 1864-1869 (leader Charles Hall) sponsored by public subscription in a further attempt to search for relics of the expedition on King William Island. Relics and skeletal remains of the Franklin party were discovered, thus dispelling any belief that survivors might still be in the region. However, the greatest achievement of this expedition was to demonstrate that explorers could live successfully among the Eskimos and adopt their methods of travel and survival, greatly influencing a later generation of polar explorers.

Chronological

MS 248/415/1;D Filed at Grinnell Mrs Henry

The material is in the hand of Jane, Lady Franklin's companion Sophia Cracroft

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to this expedition see SPRI collections GB 15 Richard Collinson, GB 15 John Philip Gell, GB 15 Henry Grinnell, GB 15 Jane Franklin and GB 15 J E Nourse