Grinnell, correspondence

• MS 248/414/1;D Letter to Cornelius Grinnell, 30 September 1865 [Regarding Charles Hall and Franklin search]
• MS 248/414/2-112;D Letters (109) and telegrams (2) to Jane, Lady Franklin, 4 March 1850 to 22 November 1873 [Regarding search for Sir John Franklin, references to Edwin De Haven, William Kennedy, Elisha Kane, Charles Hall and Henry Hartstene] 120 leaves, mainly holograph
• MS 248/414/113;D Letter (copy) to Viscount Palmerston, [1857] [Appeal for Resolute to be used to search for Franklin] holograph
• MS 248/414/114;D Letter (copy) to William Scoresby Jr, 18 June 1855 [Regarding Henry Hartstene's Arctic expedition to relieve Elisha Kane]
• MS 248/414/115;D Letter (copy) to William Parker Snow, 21 November 1851 [Regarding William Penny and Horatio Austin's search for 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 correspondence relates to the subsequent search expeditions mounted with particular mention of those by the United States.

Alphabetical

MS 248/414/114;D is a copy in the hand of Sophia Cracroft, MS 248/414/1;D and MS 248/414/115;D are copies in the hand of Jane, Lady Franklin

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to Sir John Franklin, the British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition, 1845-1848 and the numerous search expeditions.