John Franklin 330305 222484972 2008-06-29T16:22:13Z DOI bot 6652755 Citation maintenance. Formatted: title. You can [[WP:DOI|use this bot]] yourself! Please [[User:DOI_bot/bugs|report any bugs]]. {{otherpeople|John Franklin}} {{Infobox Prime Minister | name =John Franklin | image =John Franklin.jpg | birth_date ={{birth date|1786|4|16|df=y}} | birth_place =[[Spilsby, England|Spilsby]], [[Lincolnshire]], [[England]] | death_date ={{death date and age|1847|6|11|1786|4|16|df=y}} | death_place =near [[King William Island]], [[Canada]] | spouse =[[Eleanor Anne Porden]] & [[Lady Jane Franklin]] (nee Griffin) | order =5th [[Governor of Tasmania|Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land]] | term_start =[[January 5]], [[1837]] | term_end =[[August 21]], [[1843]] | successor =[[Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, 1st Baronet]] | predecessor =[[George Arthur]] |}} Sir '''John Alexander Franklin''', [[Royal Geographical Society|FRGS]] ([[April 16]], [[1786]] &ndash; [[June 11]], [[1847]]) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Royal Navy]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] and [[Arctic]] [[List of explorers|explorer]] who mapped almost two thirds of the northern coastline of [[North America]]. Franklin also served as governor of [[Tasmania]] for several years. His last expedition disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the [[Northwest Passage]] in the [[Canadian Arctic]]. The entire crew perished from [[starvation]] and [[hypothermia]] and [[exposure]] after Franklin died and the expedition's icebound ships were abandoned in desperation. ==Early life== Franklin was born in [[Spilsby]], [[Lincolnshire]], in [[1786]] and educated at [[King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth]]. John Frankin was the ninth of 12 children. One of his sisters was the mother of [[Emily Tennyson]]. Franklin's father initially opposed his son's interest in a career at sea. However, Franklin was determined and his father reluctantly allowed him to go on a trial voyage with a [[merchant ship]]. This hardened young Franklin's resolve, so at the age of 14 his father secured him a [[Royal Navy]] appointment on [[HMS Polyphemus (1782)|HMS ''Polyphemus'']]. Franklin was later present at a number of historic voyages and naval battles. These included the [[Battle of Copenhagen (1801)|Battle of Copenhagen]] in [[1801]], an expedition to explore the coast of [[Australia]] on [[HMS Investigator|HMS ''Investigator'']] with his uncle, Captain [[Matthew Flinders]], a return to the [[Napoleonic Wars]], serving aboard [[HMS Bellerophon (1786)|HMS ''Bellerophon'']] at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] in [[1805]], and he was at the [[Battle of New Orleans]]. ==1818: First Arctic expedition== John Franklin first travelled to the [[Arctic]] in [[1818]] because of a command from [[David Buchan]] and became fascinated by it. He led a disastrous overland expedition into the [[Northwest Territories]] of [[Canada]] along the [[Coppermine River]] in 1819&ndash;22, losing 11 of the 20&nbsp;men in his party. Most died of [[starvation]], but there was also at least one [[murder]] and suggestions of [[cannibalism]]. The survivors were forced to eat [[lichen]] and even attempted to eat their own leather boots. This gained Franklin the nickname of "the man who ate his boots" in America. ==1823: Marriage and second Arctic expedition== In [[1823]], after returning to England, Franklin married the [[poet]] [[Eleanor Anne Porden]]. Their daughter, Eleanor Isabella, was born the following year. Eleanor (senior) died of [[tuberculosis]] in 1825, shortly after persuading her husband not to let her ill-health prevent him from setting off on another expedition to the [[Arctic]]. This expedition, a trip down the [[Mackenzie River]] to explore the shores of the [[Beaufort Sea]], was better supplied and more successful than his last. In 1828, he was [[knighted]] by [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and in the same year married [[Jane Griffin (Lady Franklin)|Jane Griffin]], a friend of his first wife and a seasoned traveler who proved indomitable in the course of their life together. ==1836: Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)== Franklin was appointed [[Governors of Tasmania|Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land]] in [[1836]], but was removed from office in 1843. He did not endear himself with the local [[civil servant]]s, who particularly disliked his [[humane]] ideals and his attempts to reform the Tasmanian [[penal colony]]. His wife, Lady Jane, was quite liberated for a woman of her day, known for "roughing it" to the extent that an expedition had to be mounted after she and Franklin became lost in the wild. Such exploits further distanced the couple from "proper" society, and may have contributed to Franklin's recall. Nevertheless, he was popular among the people of Tasmania. He is remembered by a significant landmark in the centre of [[Hobart]]&mdash;a statue of him dominates the park known as Franklin Square, which was the site of the original Government House. His wife worked to set up a [[college]], a [[museum]] and [[botanical garden]]s. The village of Franklin, on the [[Huon River]], is named in his honour, as is the [[Franklin River]] on the [[West Coast, Tasmania|West Coast]] of Tasmania, one of the better known Tasmanian rivers due to the [[Franklin Dam]] controversy.<ref name=dab>{{cite web | first=Percival | last=Serle | title =Franklin, John (1786 – 1847) | publisher =[[Project Gutenberg Australia]] | work=[[Dictionary of Australian Biography]] | url =http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogF.html#franklin2 | accessdate = 2008-05-01}}</ref><ref name=adb> {{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last= Kathleen |first= Fitzpatrick |authorlink= |year=1966 |id=A010380b |title= Franklin, Sir John (1786 - 1847) |accessdate=2008-05-01 }} </ref> ==1845 Northwest Passage expedition== {{main|Franklin's lost expedition}} [[Image:Franklin Last Expedition Map.jpg|thumb|right|Map of the probable routes taken by ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'' during Franklin's lost expedition.{{legend|blue|Disko Bay (5) to Beechey Island, in 1845.}}{{legend|purple|Around Cornwallis Island&nbsp;(1), in 1845.}}{{legend|red|Beechey Island down Peel Sound between Prince of Wales Island&nbsp;(2) and Somerset Island&nbsp;(3) and the Boothia Peninsula&nbsp;(4) to near King William Island in 1846.}} Disko Bay&nbsp;(5) is about 3,200&nbsp;kilometres (2,000&nbsp;mi) from the mouth of the Mackenzie River&nbsp;(6).]] Exploration of the Arctic coastal mainland after Franklin's second Arctic expedition had left less than {{convert|500|km|mi|0}} of unexplored Arctic coastline. The British decided to send a well-equipped Arctic expedition to complete the charting of the Northwest Passage. After [[Sir James Ross]] declined an offer to command the expedition, an invitation was extended to Franklin, who accepted despite his age, 59. A younger man, Captain James Fitzjames, was given command of HMS ''Erebus'' and Franklin was named the expedition commander. [[Francis Crozier|Captain Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier]], who had commanded HMS ''Terror'' during the Ross 1841&ndash;44 Antarctic expedition, was appointed executive officer and commander of HMS ''Terror''. Franklin was given command on [[February 7]], [[1845]], and received official instructions on [[May 5]], [[1845]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Gibson, F.R.G.S.| first = William | title = Sir John Franklin's Last Voyage: A brief history of the Franklin expedition and the outline of the researches which established the facts of its tragic outcome | journal = The Beaver | pages = 48 | date = [[1937-06]]}}</ref> [[HMS Erebus (1826)|HMS ''Erebus'']] at {{convert|370|LT|MT|lk=on}} and [[HMS Terror (1813)|HMS ''Terror'']] at {{convert|340|LT|MT}} were sturdily built and were outfitted with recent inventions. These included [[steam engine]]s from the [[London and Greenwich Railway]] that enabled the ships to make {{convert|4|kn|km/h|lk=on}} on their own power, a novel steam heating device for the comfort of the crew, a mechanism that enabled the iron [[rudder]] and [[propeller]] to be drawn into iron wells to protect them from damage, ships' libraries of more than 1,000&nbsp;books, and three&nbsp;years' worth of conventionally preserved or tinned preserved food supplies. Unfortunately, the latter was supplied from a cut-rate provisioner who was awarded the contract only a few months before the ships were to sail. Though his "patent process" was sound, the haste with which he had to prepare thousands of cans of food led to sloppily-applied beads of solder on the cans' interior edges and allowed lead to leach into the food. Chosen by the Admiralty, most of the crew were Englishmen, many from the [[North of England]] with a small number of [[Ireland|Irishmen]] and [[Scotland|Scotsmen]]. The Franklin Expedition set sail from [[Greenhithe]], England, on the morning of [[May 19]], [[1845]], with a crew of 24&nbsp;officers and 110&nbsp;men. The ships traveled north to [[Aberdeen]] for supplies. From Scotland, the ships sailed to [[Greenland]] with HMS ''Rattler'' and a transport ship, ''Barretto Junior''. After misjudging the location of Whitefish Bay, [[Disko Island]], [[Greenland]], the expedition backtracked and finally harboured in that far north outpost to prepare for the rest of their voyage. Five&nbsp;crew members were discharged and sent home on the ''Rattler'' and ''Barretto Junior'', reducing the ships' final crew size to 129. The expedition was last seen by Europeans on [[July 26]], [[1845]], when Captain Dannett of the [[whaler]] ''Prince of Wales'' encountered ''Terror'' and ''Erebus'' moored to an [[iceberg]] in [[Lancaster Sound]]. After two&nbsp;years and no word from the expedition, [[Jane Griffin (Lady Franklin)|Franklin's wife]] urged the Admiralty to send a search party. Because the crew carried supplies for three&nbsp;years, the Admiralty waited another year before launching a search and offering a £20,000&nbsp;reward for finding the expedition. The money and Franklin's fame led to many searches. At one point, ten&nbsp;British and two&nbsp;American ships, [[USS Advance (1850)| USS ''Advance'']] and[[USS Rescue (1850)| USS ''Rescue'']], headed for the Arctic. Eventually, more ships and men were lost looking for Franklin than in the expedition itself. Ballads such as "[[Lady Franklin's Lament]]", commemorating Lady Franklin's search for her lost husband, became popular.<ref>{{cite book | last = M'Clintock | first = Francis L. | title = The Voyage of the 'Fox' in the Arctic Seas. A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and His Companions | publisher = Boston: Ticknor and Fields | date = 1860 | pages = 336}}</ref> In the summer of [[1850]], expeditions including three from England as well as one from the [[United States]] joined in the search. They converged off the east coast of [[Beechey Island]], where the first relics of the Franklin expedition were found, including the gravesites of three&nbsp;Franklin Expedition crewmen. In 1854, explorer [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]], while surveying the [[Boothia Peninsula]] for the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], discovered more evidence of the Franklin party's fate, and over the next four decades, about 25&nbsp;other searches added information. A century later, Owen Beattie, a [[University of Alberta]] professor of [[anthropology]], began a 10-year series of scientific studies known as the "1845&ndash;48 Franklin Expedition Forensic Anthropology Project", showing that the Beechey Island crew had most likely died of [[pneumonia]]<ref>{{cite journal | last = Amy | first = Roger | coauthors = Bhatnagar, Rakesh, Damkjar, Eric, Beattie, Owen | title = The last Franklin Expedition: report of a postmortem examination of a crew member | journal = Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ)| volume = 135 | pages = 115–117 | date = [[1986-07-15]]}}</ref> and perhaps [[tuberculosis]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Notman | first = Derek N.H. | coauthors = Anderson, Lawrence, Beattie, Owen B., Amy, Roger | title = Arctic Paleoradiology: Portable Radiographic Examination of Two Frozen Sailors from the Franklin Expedition (1845-48)| journal = American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR)| volume = 149 | pages = 347&ndash;350 | date = 1987 | publisher = American Roentgen Ray Society | url=http://www.ajronline.org/search.dtl |format=[[PDF]]| issn = 0361-803X}}</ref> [[Toxicological]] reports indicated that [[lead poisoning]] was also a possible factor.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Kowall | first = Walter | coauthors = Beattie, Owen B., Baadsgaard, Halfdan | title = Did solder kill Franklin's men? | journal = Nature | volume = 343 | issue = 6256 | pages = 319–320 | date = [[1990-01-25]] | doi = 10.1038/343319b0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Kowall | first = W.A. | coauthors = Krahn, P.M., Beattie, O. B. | title = Lead Levels in Human Tissues from the Franklin Forensic Project | journal = International Journal Environmental Analytical Chemistry | volume = 35 | pages = 119–126 | date = Received:[[1988-06-29]] | publisher = Gordon and Breach Science Publishers | doi = 10.1080/03067318908028385}}</ref> In addition, blade cut marks on the bones of some of the crew found on [[King William Island]] suggested that conditions had become so dire that some crew members resorted to [[cannibalism]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Keenleyside | first = Anne | coauthors = Bertulli, Margaret, Fricke, Henry C. | title = The Final Days of the Franklin Expedition: New Skeletal Evidence | journal = Arctic | volume = 50 | issue = 1 | pages = 36–46 | date = 1997 | publisher = The Arctic Institute of North America | url = http://www.aina.ucalgary.ca/scripts/minisa.dll/144/proe/proarc/se+arctic,+v.+50,+no.++1,+Mar.+1997,*?COMMANDSEARCH | format = [[PDF]]| id = ISSN: ISSN 0004-0843}}</ref> It appeared from these studies that a combination of bad weather, years locked in ice, disease including [[scurvy]], poisoned food, [[botulism]] and [[starvation]] had killed everyone in the Franklin party. For years after the loss of the Franklin party, the [[Victorian era]] media portrayed Franklin as a [[hero]] who led his men in the quest for the Northwest Passage. A statue of Franklin in his home town bears the inscription "Sir John Franklin — Discoverer of the North West Passage". Statues of Franklin outside the [[Athenaeum Club|Athenaeum]] in [[London]] and in [[Tasmania]] bear similar inscriptions. Although the expedition's fate, including the possibility of cannibalism, was widely reported and debated, Franklin's standing with the public was not diminished. The mystery surrounding Franklin's last expedition was the subject of a 2006 episode of the ''[[Nova]]'' television series ''[[Arctic Passage]]'' and a 2007 documentary on [[Discovery HD Theater]]. The expedition has inspired many artistic works including a famous ballad, [[Lady Franklin's Lament]], a verse play by Canadian poet [[Gwendolyn MacEwen]], a children's book, a short story and essays by Canadian author [[Margaret Atwood]], and several novels, and is referenced in Canadian musician [[Stan Rogers]]' ballad [[Northwest Passage (song)|''Northwest Passage'']]. ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==Bibliography== ===Non-fiction=== * Beattie, Owen, and Geiger, John (1989). ''Frozen in Time: Unlocking the Secrets of the Franklin Expedition''. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books. ISBN 0-88833-303-X. *[[NOVA (TV series)|NOVA]] - [[Arctic Passage]] Part 1 - Prisoners Of The Ice (TV documentary). See also program [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3307_arctic.html transcript]. *''Frozen In Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition'' (Revised edition), [[Owen Beattie and John Geiger]] 2004 *''Unraveling the Franklin Mystery: Inuit Testimony''. David C. Woodman *''The Arctic Grail'', [[Pierre Berton]] * ''Deadly Winter'', Martyn Beardsley * ''The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration, Frobisher to Ross'', E C Coleman 2006 ISBN 0-7524-3660-0 * ''The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration, Franklin to Scott'', E C Coleman 2006 * ''British polar exploration and research : a historical and medallic record with biographies, 1818-1999 '', Neville W. Poulsom & J. A. L. Myres (London: Savannah 2000) * ''Franklin Saga Deaths: A Mystery Solved?'' National Geographic Magazine, Vol 178, No 3, Sep 1990 *''The Arctic Fox - Francis Leopold McClintock, Discoverer of the fate of Franklin'', David Murray, 2004. Cork: The Collins Press, ISBN 1-55002-523-6 * ''To the Arctic!: The Story of Northern Exploration from Earliest Times'', Jeannette Mirsky, 1970 ISBN 0-226-53179-1 *''Fatal Passage'', [[Ken McGoogan]] *''Lady Franklin's Revenge'', [[Ken McGoogan]] ===Fiction=== *''[[The Discovery of Slowness]]'', [[Sten Nadolny]], Novel, 1983. *''[[The Rifles (novel)]]'', [[William T. Vollmann]], Novel, 1994. *''[[The Terror (novel)]]'', [[Dan Simmons]], Horror novel, 2007. *''The Broken Lands'', [[Robert Edric]], Novel, 1992 *''The Ice Child'', [[Elizabeth McGregor]], Dutton, May 3, 2001 *''Journeys and Adventures of Captain Hatteras'', Jules Vernes, [http://jydupuis.apinc.org/auteurs/verne.htm Novel (in French)], 1864. ==External links== *[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/arctic/ NOVA's companion website for [[Arctic Passage]]] *[http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=37516 Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''] <!-- Accessed 05/06/2006 --> *[http://www.ric.edu/rpotter/SJFranklin.html The Fate of Franklin (Russell Potter)] <!-- Accessed 05/06/2006 --> *[http://ink.news.com.au/mercury/franklin/history.htm The Life and Times of Sir John Franklin] <!-- Accessed 05/06/2006 --> *[http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.600/viewPage/1 List] of artifacts recovered from the Franklin Expedition *[http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic50-1-36.pdf Paper] from the Universary of Calgary about the discovery of skeletal remains in 1992 * {{gutenberg author| id=John+Franklin+(1786-1847) | name=John Franklin}} <!-- Accessed 05/06/2006 --> ==Further reading== *Alexander, Alison (editor) (2005)''The [[Companion to Tasmanian History]]''Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart. ISBN 186295223X. *Robson, L.L. (1983) ''A history of Tasmania. Volume 1. Van Diemen's Land from the earliest times to 1855''Melbourne, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195543645 {{start box}}{{s-gov}} {{succession box | before=[[George Arthur (Governor General)|George Arthur]] | after=[[Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, 1st Baronet|Sir John Eardley-Wilmot]] | title=[[Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land]] | years=[[1837]]&ndash;[[1843]] }} {{end box}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, John}} [[Category:English explorers]] [[Category:Explorers of the Arctic]] [[Category:Explorers of Australia]] [[Category:Explorers of Canada]] [[Category:Governors of Tasmania]] [[Category:Royal Navy admirals]] [[Category:British naval personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]] [[Category:British naval personnel of the War of 1812]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]] [[Category:People from Lincolnshire]] [[Category:Naval history of Canada]] [[Category:1786 births]] [[Category:1847 deaths]] [[Category:Cannibalism]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society]] [[Category:Australian penal colony administrators]] [[cs:John Franklin]] [[de:John Franklin]] [[es:John Franklin]] [[eo:John Franklin]] [[fr:John Franklin]] [[he:ג'ון פרנקלין]] [[gl:John Franklin]] [[nl:John Franklin]] [[ja:ジョン・フランクリン]] [[no:John Franklin]] [[pl:John Franklin]] [[ru:Франклин, Джон]] [[sl:John Franklin]] [[fi:John Franklin]] [[sv:John Franklin]] [[zh:約翰·富蘭克林]]