Sir John Franklin, page 1

Beattie, Owen and John Geiger.

Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1987.

One of the most provocative, compelling books about Sir John Franklin's third and final Arctic expedition (1845-48), this book reads like a detective story. It is meant to be the story of how a mystery was solved. Franklin's ill-fated expedition was shrouded in mystery for nearly 140 years. The disappearance of the two Royal Navy vessels Erebus and Terror captured the imagination and horror of the Victorian age. Only one scrap of documentary evidence (on paper) survived, indicating a sketchy and inconclusive theory about what happened to the survivors. In 1981, Beattie, an anthropologist, found part of a bleached human skull. This led to further investigations and findings, using forensic evidence and techniques, and examining three well-preserved bodies of three seamen, exhumed from the permafrost of Beechey Island over 138 years after their death. Haunting photographs tell a gruesome tale. Laboratory tests revealed lethal doses of lead poisoning. Well-illustrated and engagedly-written, this investigation into the tragedy has become a classic. That lead poisoning killed other sailors on the expedition is not known, but the theory is tempting and has invited commentary from other northern scholars of this famous expedition.

Neatby, Leslie H.

Search for Franklin: The Story of one of the Great Dramas of Polar Exploration. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1970.

Considered a classic, this book examines the search for Captain Sir John Franklin, his officers, men and ships. Based on a thorough knowledge of the histories and narratives of Arctic travel in the mid- and late-nineteenth centuries, author Neatby has painstakingly pieced together the story. He gives a brief history of early attempts to find a passage, then describes the diaster, and then looks at all significant attempts by various seekers, including the Americans, to find Franklin. He gives a full bibliography of works consulted and tells not only about Franklin, but discusses Kennedy, McClure, Belcher, Lady Jane Franklin, McClintock, Kane and others — all of whom were involved in this engaging chapter in Canadian northern and Arctic history.

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