John Philip Gell collection

The collection comprises of correspondence by Gell to his mother-in-law Jane, Lady Franklin regarding the search for the missing British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition, 1845-1848 (leader Sir John Franklin) with particular mention of the United States Franklin Search Expedition, 1864-1869 (leader Charles Hall)

John Philip Gell was born in 1816. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge, and was later ordained. In 1840, he was invited to take up a post as a principal of a college in Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania], Australia, where he met Sir John Franklin, who was serving as Lieutenant Governor. In 1846, Gell became the first Warden of Christ College in Hobart, a post he held until 1849, the year in which he married Eleanor Franklin, daughter of Sir John Franklin, and his first wife, Eleanor Anne Porden. On his return to England, Gell served as a curate in several parishes. He was widowed in 1860 and died in 1898.

The correspondence is arranged chronologically

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Descriptions compiled by N. Boneham, Assistant Archivist with assistance from R. Stancombe and reference to Arctic, exploration and development c500 BC to 1915, an encyclopaedia by Clive Holland Garland Publishing, London (1994) and Exploring Polar Frontiers, a historical encyclopaedia by William Mills San Diego and Oxford, 2003 and Christ College and The Welcome Trust and The fate of Franklin, the life and mysterious death of the most heroic of Arctic explorers by Roderic Owen, Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. London (1978) SRPI Library Shelf 92[Franklin]

Clive Holland Manuscripts in the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England - a catalogue, Garland Publishing New York and London (1982) ISBN 0824093941.

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