Dillon, correspondence

This material is held atScott Polar Research Institute Archives, University of Cambridge

  • Reference
    • GB 15 J W Dillon/Correspondence
  • Dates of Creation
    • February 1857
  • Name of Creator
  • Physical Description
    • Letter

Scope and Content

  • MS 248/369;D Letter to Jane, Lady Franklin, 13 February 1857 [Hopes of Government participation in final Franklin search] 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.

Arrangement

Chronological

Related Material

The Institute holds numerous archival collections containing material relating to the search for the British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition, 1845-1848 (leader Sir John Franklin) including several collections relating to the British Franklin Search Expedition, 1857-1859 (leader Francis Leopold McClintock)

Geographical Names

Northwest Passage