Beautemps-Beaupr, correspondence

• MS 248/345;D Letter to Jane, Lady Franklin, 22 April 1853 [Thanks for gift of Kennedy's Second Voyage of Prince Albert] holograph

The correspondence relates to the British Franklin Search Expedition, 1851-1852 (leader William Kennedy), sponsored by Jane, Lady Franklin and public subscription to search for the missing British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition, 1845-1858 (leader Sir John Franklin) in Prince Regent Inlet and the area southwest of Cape Walker, Barrow Strait. Sailing in Prince Albert Kennedy was separated from the ship and marooned for more than five weeks while his second-in-command Joseph-Ren Bellot sailed to Batty Bay to establish winter quarters before returning overland to rescue him. In February 1852, a dog sledge journey was undertaken to search the adjacent coasts, sledging south along the coast of Somerset Island and discovering a channel which Kennedy later named Bellot Strait, marking the northernmost extremity of the North American continent. Passing through the strait, the party traversed Peel Sound and continued west, crossing Prince of Wales Island to Ommanney Bay before returning to the ship in May, a journey of some 2,000 km.

Chronological

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to this expedition see SPRI collections GB 15 Joseph Bellot, GB 15 M A Dunlop, GB 15 Jane Franklin, GB 15 John Richardson, GB 15 William Kennedy and GB 15 Sophia Cracroft