Angus, correspondence

Scope and Content

  • MS 116/7;D Letter to William Penny, 3 October 1856 [Regarding the outstanding affairs of Lieutenant Fairholme who died on British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition, 1845-1848] holograph

Administrative / Biographical History

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.

William Penny was appointed to command the British Franklin Search Expedition, 1850-1851, instructed to search for Franklin in Jones Sound, Wellington Channel and beyond Cape Walker.

Arrangement

Chronological

Related Material

The Institute holds an archival collection for William Penny and Sir John Franklin