Maury, United States Franklin Search Expedition, 1850-1851

• MS 248/443;D Statement, 25 July 1850 [Belief in existence of an open sea near the Parry Islands] holograph (copy)

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 United States Franklin Search Expedition, 1850-1851 (leader Edwin De Haven) [First Grinnell expedition] sailed to the Canadian Arctic. After assisting Horatio Austin and William Penny in investigating Beechey Island, where Franklin's 1845-1846 winter quarters were discovered, Advance and Rescue became beset by pack ice, drifting for over 1600 kilometres before breaking free and returning to New York in Autumn 1851.

Chronological

This statement influenced the instructions given to De Haven's Franklin Search Expedition

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to this expedition see SPRI collections GB 15 Edwin De Haven and GB 015 O R P Rogers

This statement influenced the instructions given to De Haven's Franklin Search Expedition