Simpson, correspondence

• MS 843;D Letter and enclosures to Lord Elgin, 16 November 1848 [Regarding William Kennedy and the Hudson's Bay Co.] 60 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
• MS 811;D Letter to Edward Ellice MP, 23 October 1854 [Recommends Dr John Rae to him and his father as deserving a knighthood] (Xerox)

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 between 1847 and 1859, during the course of which the main facts regarding the route taken and the final fate of the expedition were established.

Alphabetical

These are copies

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to the search for Sir John Franklin.

Correspondence by Simpson regarding Sir John Franklin can be found amongst the Richardson-Voss collection held at the Institute (MS 1503/35/38 SIMPSON G Letter to John Richardson [No information about Franklin, copy of instructions to Bell enclosed, no news of Dr Rae's party] Hudson's Bay House Lachine 23 August 1847 & MS 1503/35/48 SIMPSON G Letter to John Richardson [Waiting for possible news of Franklin on York ship discovery expedition News of Dr Rae's return, no news of Franklin could be heard before early part 1848] Hudson's Bay House Lachine 1 December 1847)

MS 811;D National Library of Scotland, MS 843;D Ontario Department of Public Records and Archives (1982)