Gregory, correspondence

• MS 824/1;D Letter to wife, 9 July 1845 [From Desko, Whale Fish Islands] 2 leaves, holograph

The British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition, 1845-1848 (leader Sir John Franklin) was to search for a Northwest Passage in the unexplored region southwest of Barrow Strait. Sailing from London in May 1845 HMS Erebus (Franklin) and HMS Terror (Crozier) were last seen heading for Lancaster Sound by two whalers in northern Baffin Bay in late July 1845. After that, the expedition disappeared and Europeans never again saw its members alive. During the course of many search expeditions the main facts regarding the route taken and final fate of the expedition were established.

By discovering a channel of communication between known points in Barrow Strait and on the north coast, Franklin's men had effectively discovered a Northwest Passage.

Chronological

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to this expedition see SPRI collection GB 15 Sir John Franklin, GB 15 Geoffrey Callender, GB 15 John Colston, GB 15 Edward Couch, GB 15 Sophia Cracroft, GB 15 Francis Crozier, GB 15 Richard Cyriax, GB 15 Earl of Auckland, GB 15 John Fitzjames, GB 15 Jane Franklin, GB 15 Graham Gore, GB 15 Edward Griffiths, GB 15 Alexander McDonald, GB 15 Charles Osmer and GB 15 Steven Stanley,

This was the last letter home of a member of the expedition and includes an account of the journey from Stromness to Disco Island, Greenland