Weld, correspondence

• MS 248/489;D Letter to Jane, Lady Franklin, 31 March 1848 [Regarding Richard King's proposals for Franklin search] holograph

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.

Chronological

Correspondence by Weld regarding the British Franklin Search Expedition, 1850 (leader Charles Forsyth) can be found amongst the Back collection held by at the Institute (MS 395/68;BL WELD Letter to George Back, 6 May 1850, holograph)

The Institute holds numerous archival collections containing material relating to the British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition, 1845-1848 and the subsequent search expeditions sent to uncover the fate of Franklin and his men.