Nourse, correspondence

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

  • Reference
    • GB 15 J E Nourse/Correspondence
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1877-1878
  • Name of Creator
  • Physical Description
    • 9 letters

Scope and Content

  • MS 248/447/1-2;D Letters (2) to Richard Collinson, 8 June and 19 November 1877 [Regarding Charles Hall] 5 leaves, holograph
  • MS 248/447/3-7;D Letters (5) to Sophia Cracroft, 3 May 1877 to 1 August 1878 [Regarding narrative of Charles Hall's Arctic expedition] 9 leaves, holograph
  • MS 248/447/8-9;D Letters (2) to William Gore Jones, 29 April and 5 June 1878 [Regarding Charles Hall's correspondence with Lady Franklin] 2 leaves, 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.

The United States Franklin Search Expedition, 1864-1869 (leader Charles Hall) sponsored by public subscription in a further attempt to search for relics of the expedition on King William Island. Relics and skeletal remains of the Franklin party were discovered, thus dispelling any belief that survivors might still be in the region. The expedition demonstrated that explorers could live successfully among the Eskimos and adopt their methods of travel and survival.

Arrangement

Alphabetical

Related Material

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to Hall's expedition see SPRI collections GB 15 Richard Collinson, GB 15 John Philip Gell, GB 15 Henry Grinnell, GB 15 Jane Franklin and GB 15 Charles Hall