Phillips, correspondence

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

  • Reference
    • GB 15 Charles Phillips/Correspondence
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1849-1851
  • Name of Creator
  • Physical Description
    • 4 letters

Scope and Content

  • MS 248/455/1;D Letter to Sophia Cracroft, 19 May 1850 [Preparations for John Ross's Franklin search expedition, 1850 to 1851] 2 leaves, holograph
  • MS 248/455/2;D Letter to Jane, Lady Franklin, [April 1850] [Regarding search for Sir John Franklin] holograph
  • MS 116/66;D Letter to William Penny, 27 September 1851 [Just back from the Arctic] holograph
  • MS 1226/23;D Letter to Sir James Clark Ross, 7 November 1849 [Regarding his return from search for Sir John Franklin] 4 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 correspondence covers the search in general with specific mention of the British Naval Franklin Search Expedition, 1848-1849 (leader Sir James Clark Ross) and the British Franklin Search Expedition, 1850-1851 (leader Sir John Ross)

Arrangement

Alphabetical

Related Material

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material on both James Clark Ross and Sir John Ross and their Franklin search expeditions.