James Elliott collection

The collection comprises of material relating to the Arctic and correspondence by Elliott regarding the British Naval Franklin Search Expedition, 1850-1851 (leader Horatio Austin)

James Edward Elliott was born in 1813 in Cornwall. He was appointed second lieutenant and navigator in HMS Assistance under Erasmus Ommanney, on the British Naval Franklin Search Expedition, 1850-1851 (leader Horatio Austin), sent by the Admiralty to search for Sir John Franklin's missing Northwest Passage expedition by way of Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound. During the expedition, Ommanney discovered the first evidence that Franklin had in fact reached the Canadian Arctic, finding signs of a field camp at Cape Riley, Devon Island, and a cairn and other relics on Beechey Island, which was subsequently shown to have been Franklin's winter quarters in 1845 and 1846.

In 1853, Elliott was appointed first lieutenant in HMS Phoenix on the British Naval Supply Voyage (leader Edward Augustus Inglefield), sent in company with HMS Breadalbane with fresh supplies for the ships of the British Naval Franklin Search Expedition, 1852-1854 (leader Sir Edward Belcher). Elliott returned to Barrow Strait in HMS Phoenix the following year on the British Naval Supply Voyage (leader Edward Inglefield). After the expedition, Elliott served as a commander in the Coastguard. He died in 1865

The collection is split into two sub-fonds comprising of Arctic papers and correspondence respectively

By appointment.

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The term holograph is used when the item is wholly in the handwriting of the author. The term autograph is used when the author has signed the item.

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 British polar exploration and research a historical and medallic record with biographies 1818-1999 by Lieutenant Colonel Neville W Poulsom and Rear Admiral John A L Myres, Savannah Publications London (2000) SPRI Library Shelf 737.2

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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