The Franklin Relics at BRLSI

What was the Franklin Expedition, and what does it have to do with BRLSI?

The Franklin Expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed in 1845 aboard two ships, destined to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. The expedition met disaster after both ships and crews became icebound, in what today is the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

After being stranded for over a year, ships were abandoned, and many men, including Franklin died. Survivors set out for the Canadian mainland and were never seen again. Scientific studies on their remains suggest they didn’t perish quickly, and were taken in turn by hypothermia, scurvy, starvation, lead poisoning, and maybe even cannibalism.

BRLSI’s Franklin relics will be on display on the afternoon of Saturday 13th January and coming from the USA to guide you on their convoluted journey to BRLSI and their significance, will be Franklin researcher Logan Zachary. Be sure to join him and illuminate yourself on a key story of a largely unknown part of the BRLSI collections.

The image shows a board reading Mixed Pickles, a rare relic from the expedition.