Rae, correspondence

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

  • Reference
    • GB 15 John Rae / Correspondence
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1854-1892
  • Name of Creator
  • Physical Description
    • 37 letters

Scope and Content

  • MS 799/1-2;D Letter to Mrs Bompas, 26 February 1889 [Including notes on An Arctic boat journey in the autumn of 1854 by Isaac Hayes] 2 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 1001;D Letter to Messrs Croskey & Co. 14 December 1860 [Account of visit to Faeroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland in HMS Bulldog in connection with North Atlantic Telegraph route] 3 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 248/459/1;D Letter to Great Britain Admiralty, 29 July 1854 [Eskimos' account of fate of Sir John Franklin] 2 leaves, holograph
  • MS 248/459/2;D Letter to Sophia Cracroft, 17 August 1865 [Regarding Sir John Franklin, John Richardson and Jane, Lady Franklin] holograph
  • MS 356/80;D Letter to the editor, Daily Telegraph, 10 November 1876 [Regarding the British Arctic Expedition, 1875-1876] 3 leaves, holograph
  • MS 805/1;D Letter to Sir Alexander Galt, 21 January 1881 [Compares navigation seasons on the Great Lakes with that of Hudson Bay route] 3 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 790/1-2;D Letters (2) to Professor Archibald Geikie, 19 and 23 October 1877 [Regarding raised beaches in the Orkney Islands] 4 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 803/1-4;D Letters (4) to Jessie Hamilton (niece), 27 February 1866 to 2 January [1892] [Family news] 12 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 1096;D Letter to S Hodges, 2 March 1871 [Invitation to dinner] holograph
  • MS 874/1-5;D Letters (5) to the Hydrographer, 1850 to 1856 [Mainly regarding Franklin search] 15 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 805/8;D Letter to Sir Curtis Lampson, 6 March 18? [Urges use of two sorts of boats between Lake Superior and Red River] 2 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 248/459/3;D Letter to Benjamin Leigh Smith, 2 February 1878 [Regarding fate of Sir John Franklin]
  • MS 301/25;D Letter to Benjamin Leigh Smith, 10 April 1877 [Reference to Sir Allen Young] autograph
  • MS 805/2-7;D Letters (6) to Sir John Macdonald, 23 October 1884 to 28 November 1885 [Regarding invitations] 10 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 828;D Letter to R H Major, 30 June 1875 [Regarding discovery claims] 3 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 909/1-6;D Letters (6) to Sir John Richardson, 1848-1850 [Regarding the British Overland Franklin Search Expedition, 1847-1849 (leader Sir John Richardson)] 26 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 805/9;D Letter to B Scarth, 25 November 1879 [Regarding Canadian mortgage investments] 2 leaves, holograph (Xerox)
  • MS 787/4;D Letter (draft) to unknown person, 15 December 1877 [Regarding search for Sir John Franklin and cairn built by him in 1846-1847] 10 leaves, holograph
  • MS 787/5;D Letter (draft) to unknown person, 14 October 1878 [Regarding scurvy on Arctic expeditions] 4 leaves, holograph

Administrative / Biographical History

The correspondence relates to the supposed fate of Sir John Franklin and the British Naval Northwest Passage Expedition, 1845-1848, Arctic exploration in general and other matters

Arrangement

The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by recipient

Related Material

Correspondence by Rae can also be found amongst the Back and Richardson-Voss loan collections

  • MS 395/59/1-3;BL RAE DR JOHN Letters (3) to George Back. 1848 to 1878 [Regarding Arctic exploration, Hudson's Bay Company] 3 leaves, holograph
  • MS 1503/35/56;RV RAE Dr JOHN Letter to John Richardson 12 December 1847 [Stating willingness to join party, refers to Dr King's letter in Athenaeum]
  • MS 1503/38/5;RV RAE Dr JOHN 10 January 1848 [Has been appointed to join expedition in search for Franklin, mention of writings and Hudson's Bay Company]
  • MS 1503/41/10;RV RAE JOHN Letter to John Richardson 8 October 1850 [Description of life reference to visits in 1848, welcomed by camp of Indians, early winter provisioning and building boats, hope for news of Franklin]
  • MS 1503/44/3;RV RAE JOHN Letter to John Richardson, 18 April 1851 [Description of journey Fort Confidence]
  • MS 1503/44/4;RV RAE JOHN Enclosure to letter of 18 April [Letter for publication [dated 1 November 1850]
  • MS 1503/50/32;RV RAE Dr Letter to John Richardson 18 August 1855 [Reflections on the award to McClure for discovering the North-West Passage, plans for another expedition]
  • MS 1503/52/23;RV RAE Dr Letter to John Richardson 21 April 1856 [References to adverse pamphlet, Arctic rewards and their claimants, going to Gosport to see review of the Fleet, left Hudson's Bay Company]
  • MS 1503/52/39;RV Unsigned letter from Dr Rae Letter to John Richardson 4 July 1856 [Has obtained proportion of reward for his men, intention to settle in Canada and eventually fit out a Canadian expedition]
  • MS 1503/63/22;RV RAE Dr John Letter to John Richardson, 27 December 1861 [Dining with or Boott met a Mr Robertson and Dr Skey also Mr Lover [Samuel] mention of claims of Hudson's Bay Company]
  • MS 1503/68/11;RV RAE Dr JOHN Letter to John Richardson 28 May 1864 [Going to Rocky Mountains via Red River to mark out route for telegraph paths thought best suited to be Yellow Head and Cow Dung latitude 53° near the headwaters of the Fraser mention of Sioux]
  • MS 1503/70/5;RV RAE Dr JOHN Condolences to John B Richardson 12 June 1865 [On John Richardson death]
  • MS 1503/73/21;RV RAE JOHN Letter to Mary Richardson Pimlico 13 July 1865
  • MS 1503/79/11;RV RAE JOHN Letter to Mary Richardson 24 April 1868 [On biography of Sir John]