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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Sep 15

Just as written records from the lost Franklin Expedition were within reach, Canada is having to pull the plug on archaeological excavation of HMS Erebus & Terror.

loganzachary.substack.com/p/illuminato...

illuminator newsletter #42

The final dive season.

loganzachary.substack.com

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Kitty @kittyfisher.bsky.social · Jul 15

In a way, it’s sort of a good thing most of the pubs mentioned in this piece by @illuminator.bsky.social and @finger-post.blog are gone, because IMAGINE the carnage a Franklin pub crawl would create across London.

www.illuminator.blog/p/londonpubs...

The wreck of The Sir John Franklin (and other Franklin Expedition pubs of London).

By Logan Zachary & Alison Freebairn. July 15, 2025. { Outside the East India Docks. May 25th, 2023. } Perhaps everyone reading...

www.illuminator.blog

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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Jul 13

Do use the pic if you have a spot for it. I thought Greenwich didn't have an online option? I'm not seeing it on their site...

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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Jul 13

Wish I was in London to attend your talk. Best of luck tomorrow, Sam. ❤️

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Sam Pope @sampopewriter.bsky.social · Jul 13

If you're a member of the Maritime Museum, please come to my talk tomorrow night, at 6.30pm, on the life of Eleanor Anne Porden! She's done much more than *just* being married to John Franklin - she was an acclaimed poet and fascinating person. Hope to see you there! www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/nat...

Members' Lecture: Eleanor Anne Porden

Uncover the often-forgotten life of John Franklin's first wife, Eleanor Anne Porden, with author Sam Pope

www.rmg.co.uk

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David C. Woodman @aglukaq.bsky.social · Jan 21

Just migrated from polluted Twitter. Any Franklin expedition aficionados here yet? If so I would love to connect with you.

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Lou Morgan @lmorgan.bsky.social · Apr 22

It’s 22nd April, which means it’s Abandonment Day: the date HMS Erebus & Terror were abandoned by their crews in 1848.
(We know this from the last addition to the Victory Point note, made by Captains Crozier & Fitzjames on 25th April 1848)

www.historymuseum.ca/blog/a-very-...

A very special piece of paper

www.historymuseum.ca

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Alison @finger-post.blog · Mar 31

"...if intelligence be not received, before the 31st March of the officers and crews of HMS Erebus and Terror being alive, they will be considered as having died in service."

This "sentence of death", as Lady Franklin described it, fell on the #FranklinExpedition OTD in 1854. #NavalHistory

The front page of the 1845 muster book of HMS Erebus (TNA ADM 38/672).

A note at the bottom reads "Officers & Ships Company are to be considered as having died in the Service & the Wages are to be paid to their Relatives to 31 March 1854".

The front page of the 1845 muster book of HMS Terror (TNA ADM 38/1962).

A note at the bottom reads "Officers & Ships Company are to be considered as having died in the Service & the Wages are to be paid to their Relatives to 31 March 1854".

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James Fitzjames @captjamesfitzjames.bsky.social · Mar 30

For James Fitzjames' birthday I will organise a tour. If you would like to join, please fill in this form to sign up:
forms.gle/TyhyFXbaZuop...
I'm really looking forward to it! 🥳

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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Mar 26

And is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

trimaris @trimaris.bsky.social · Mar 25

Wusstet Ihr, dass die Mutter von Oscar Wilde, Jane Elgee, Schriftstellerin und zudem die Cousine von Robert McClure (Kapitän von #Miertsching auf #HMSInvestigator) war? 1854 veröffentliche sie im Dublin University Magazine einen 25-S.-Artikel über McClure und die Entdeckung der #Nordwestpassage.

Lady Jane Francesca Wilde (Pseudonym: Speranza)

Auszug aus dem 25-seitigen Artikel von Speranza über Kapitän McClure und die Entdeckung der Nordwestpassage

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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Mar 19

New land archaeology paper out. Inuit testimony counters cannibalism assessment at the site that cold opens Frozen In Time.
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/ar...

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ultima thule @thethousandthpart.com · Mar 3

New post on Captain Crozier’s adventures in secondary sources to date - there will be grumbling (all of it well deserved) #NavalHistory #PolarExploration www.thethousandthpart.com/notes/crozie...

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Alison @finger-post.blog · Feb 18

I've been wandering around cemeteries looking for graves related to the #FranklinExpedition and other Arctic disasters for years now.

But I had no idea that the great scholar RJ Cyriax had done all this many decades ago, and that his photo albums were in Ottawa:
finger-post.blog/2024/02/18/r...

Richard J. Cyriax and his Franklin graves photography - THERE STOOD NO FRIENDLY FINGER-POST TO GUIDE US

Cyriax is revered for his scholarship on the Franklin Expedition. But he also created a visual record of the history through his photography.

finger-post.blog

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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Feb 7

Radio interview with Parks Canada Manager Jonathan Moore.

www.cbc.ca/listen/live-....

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Elizabeth Minkel @elizabethminkel.bsky.social · Jan 30

My latest Atlas Obscura column is live! On Terror Camp, an academic conference + fan con that truly sits at the intersections between those worlds. Featuring a bunch of extremely smart, extremely enthusiastic participants (led by the inimitable @tchotchke.bsky.social) who were a joy to talk to. 🥰

'Terror Camp' Could Be a Glimpse of the Future of Fandom and Scholarship

“It’s academia that feels criminally fun!”

www.atlasobscura.com

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James Fitzjames @captjamesfitzjames.bsky.social · Jan 25

When the National Portrait Gallery reopened in June 2023 the 'Arctic Council' portrait wasn't on display. Booo! So I arranged to visit the NPG's storage facility to view the painting there. Finally a good look at Fitzjames' portrait on the wall! Magnificent painting. #NavalHistory

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Tristan F. @tristanaef.bsky.social · Jan 23

If you're as excited about the news from the 2023 dive to HMS Erebus and HMS Terror as I am, one of the archaeologists is giving a talk tomorrow! 5-6:30 PM PT | 7-8:30 PM CT, free registration: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/91c9e2...
#NavalHistory #FranklinExpedition

Photo of someone bending over water beside a green banner with text: "SUC Speaker Series presents Thierry Boyer, Parks Canada Underwater Archeologist. The Franklin Expedition: Discovery, Research, & Preservation of the HMS Terror & HMS Erebus, January 24 2024 @ 7:00pm, Online Event. Underwater Council SASK"

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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Jan 22

Dive season press release out.
www.canada.ca/en/parks-can...

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Alison @finger-post.blog · Jan 21

This one has been many years in the making, and involved two trips to Canada to work with the original headboards placed over the graves of three of Sir John Franklin's men in 1846.

And this is just part one! It gets even nerdier from this point on. #19thC #NavalHistory #PolarExploration

A grainy black and white image of five men in dark clothing standing in a line on a gravel beach. There is a line of grave markers. The caption reads "Headstones of four of Sir John Franklin's men, Erebus Bay."

The image is from Joseph-Elzéar Bernier's 1910 book "Report on the Dominion of Canada Government Expedition to the Arctic Islands and Hudson Strait on board the D.G.S. ‘Arctic’."

The copy was from Ann Savours' library. Thank you, Ann.

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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Jan 21

www.illuminator.blog/p/gravemarke...

New long-form article. A letter-by-letter crawl through the Beechey grave inscriptions. 1st installment.

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Lauren Triola @3followsso.bsky.social · Jan 1

178 years...

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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Dec 22

Love the timeline graph

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Tristan F. @tristanaef.bsky.social · Dec 12

I can now share the poster on Careers of the Franklin Expedition that I presented at Terror Camp! Here's a blog post about Terror Camp, the project, and next steps: 🔗 wordpress.com/post/tristan...

And here's the poster in all its glory: tinyurl.com/fe-careers
#terrorcamp2023 #NavalHistory #c19th

Careers of the Franklin Expedition

I began this project to answer the question: which members of the Franklin Expedition might have known each other before they set sail? My initial results were presented at Terror Camp 2023 from Decem...

tristanaefwrites.wordpress.com

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illuminator ⚓️Franklin Expedition @illuminator.bsky.social · Dec 12

tl;dr This is an endorsement of the Vitamin B deficiency theory first suggested by Park & Stenton in 2019 ("Use Your Best Endeavours..."), namely, that a lack of game northwest of King William Island could have led to beriberi derailing the Franklin Expedition.

Alison @finger-post.blog · Dec 12

A new paper by Keith Millar has just been published online for Polar Record. Excitement! #19thC #HistMed #NavalHistory

"Victorian prescience: The Lancet medical journal and the loss of the Franklin expedition, 1845–1859".
bit.ly/3uREeXf

Victorian prescience: The Lancet medical journal and the loss of the Franklin expedition, 1845–185...

Victorian prescience: The Lancet medical journal and the loss of the Franklin expedition, 1845–1859 - Volume 59

bit.ly

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trimaris @trimaris.bsky.social · Dec 6

If you see this, post a ship.

This is #HMSInvestigator on her #Arctic journey in search of the lost #Franklinexpedition, left pic: 1850(by Cresswell), right pic: 2011 (by Brett Seymor, Parks Canada). On Board was Johann August Miertsching.
#Miertsching #tallships #parkscanada #arcticexpedition

Druck nach einer Farbskizze von Cresswell: HMS Investigator im Packeis, Oktober 1850

Foto zeigt HMS Investigator auf dem Grund der Mercy Bay in der kanadischen Arktis/ Banks Island, mit einem Taucher (ein Unterwasser- Archäologe) im Sommer 2011. © Parks Canada, Brett Seymour

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