Cyriax, correspondence

PAPERS

• MS 819/1-7;D The Collinson cryptograms in The Times, 5 May 1944 [With accompanying correspondence and notes] 18 leaves, typed
• MS 1063;D The unsolved problem of the Franklin Expedition records supposedly buried on King William Island, undated [Draft of article published in Mariner's Mirror, 1969] 23 leaves, holograph (Xerox)

CORRESPONDENCE

• MS 1325/14/1-2;D Letters (2) to Hugh Robert Mill, 25 and 29 March 1933 [Regarding the engines used on Sir John Franklin's last expedition] 3 leaves, holograph

The papers and correspondence include material relating to the British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition, 1845-1848 (leader Sir John Franklin). In 1845 Sir John Franklin sailed north in command of this 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.

Chronological

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to the British Naval Northwest passage Expedition, 1845-1848, see SPRI collections 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 Earl of Auckland, GB 15 John Fitzjames, GB 15 Jane Franklin, GB 15 Graham Gore, GB 15 John Gregory, GB 15 Edward Griffiths, GB 15 Alexander McDonald, GB 15 Charles Osmer and GB 15 Steven Stanley

The Institute holds an extensive archival collection for Hugh Robert Mill