Lady Franklin
LADY FRANKLIN.
THREE women have a claim to be associated with the name of Sir John Franklin. The lady whom he first married, Miss Eleanor Porden, is one of them. It was she who, knowing how fatal a brief delay may be to an arctic expedition, bade her husband set sail for the northern seas at the appointed time, although she was then in the last stages of consumption. He sailed, and it proved to be her last wish that he obeyed, for she died the day after his departure.
His second wife was the Lady Franklin of whom all the world has heard. It was to her untiring efforts (in all of which she was devotedly aided by Sir John's niece, the late Miss Sophia Cracroft), that the solution to the mystery which so long shrouded the fate of the explorer and his ill-starred vessels, was due.
Lady Franklin, whose maiden name was Jane Griffin, was born in 1794, and was married to Sir John Franklin in 1828, when she was thirty-four years of age. Ten years later she accompanied him to Van Dieman's Land, (now Tasmania,) of which he had been appointed governor. She early gained the good will of the inhabitants, and was noted among them both for her many deeds of private beneficence, and for the active, efficient aid which she rendered her husband in his public duties. She showed especial interest in the welfare of poor emigrants, and of the convicts who, after transportation to New South Wales was abolished, were sent to Tasmania from all
parts of the British Empire. That Sir John and Lady Franklin acquired, not only the approval, but the affection of the colonists, is shown by the comments of the local press upon their departure for England at the expiration of Sir John's administration. A. few years later Lady Franklin had the melancholy pleasure of receiving from them a large sum of money to assist her in prosecuting her search for her lost husband and the records of his expedition, and they further testified their remembrance of him by erecting a statue in his honor at Hobart Town.
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Sir John's success as an arctic discoverer led the English government in 1845 to offer him the command of an expedition to sail in search of the Northwest pas-sage, a duty which he gladly accepted. Two ships, the
Erebus" and " Terror." were provided, and an additional transport to convey stores as far as Disco, in Greenland. These three vessels sailed from Greenhithe on the nineteenth of May.
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The "Erebus " and "'Terror," which were fine ships fitted expressly for arctic service, and victualled for three years, were last seen in Baffin's Bay by a. whaler, lying moored to an iceberg. All was then going well. In letters written home a few days previous to this, the officers of the expedition expressed ardent hope and perfect confidence in their commander, while Sir John him-self, writing to Lady Franklin, assured her cheerfully of his well-being, and dwelt upon the future with joyous anticipations of success. Not one of his hundred and thirty-four officers and men lived to return.
At the end of two years, nothing further having been heard from the expedition, preparations were begun for the too probable necessity of sending them assistance. As time passed the feeling of uneasiness deepened, and at last was begun that noble series of attempts made by both English and Americans, which resulted after four-teen years only in the sad discovery of the truth.
In 1848 three expeditions, expensively fitted out and ably commanded, were sent by the government in search of the missing explorers. They all failed ; but the failure did not cause discouragement either to the government or the people of England. It served instead as a spur, urging them to new efforts, made on a scale that would insure success. The first step was taken by the Lords of the Admiralty, who in March, 1849, offered a reward of twenty thousand pounds to any man or party who should render efuicient aid to Sir John Franklin or his men. A second reward of three thousand pounds was offered by Lady Franklin, who also, at her own expense, sent a supply of coal and provisions to be deposited on the coast of Lancaster Sound. These were landed upon the conspicuous promontory of Cape Day, for the use of the missing party, should they visit that region. She had already sent, by a ship of one of the earlier expeditions, a large quantity of similar stores, which had been buried at prominent points along the coast, the place being marked in each case by a tall signal post, with an arrow painted on it, pointing out the exact spot where the articles were concealed.
It was in this year also that she addressed to the President of the United States her well-known appeal, ill which she called upon the Americans as a " kindred people to join heart and hand in the enterprise of snatching the lost navigators from a dreary grave." After referring to the reward offered by the British Government, she said:
This announcement, which, even if the sum offered had
been doubled or trebled, would have met with public approbation, comes, however, too late for our whalers which had unfortunately sailed before it was issued, and which, even if the news should overtake them at their fishing grounds, arc totally unfitted for any prolonged adventure, having only a few months' provisions on
board, and no additional clothing. To the American whalers, both in the Atlantic and Pacific, I look with more hope as competitors for the prize, being well aware of their number and strength, their thorough equipment, and the bold spirit of enterprise that animates their crews. But I venture to look even beyond these.
I am not without hope that you will deem it not unworthy of a great and kindred nation to take up the cause of humanity in which I plead in a national spirit, and thus generously make it your own."
The Secretary of State, Mr. Clayton, at once sent an encouraging reply to Lady Franklin, and President Taylor, calling the attention of Congress to the matter in a special message, stated his earnest desire that all possible assistance should be rendered. He had already caused notice of the rewards offered, and information regarding the probable means of finding the lost vessels, to be circulated among whalers and seafaring men all over the country. Popular feeling favored Lady Franklin and her cause, and when Mr. Henry Grinnell of New York offered to provide two fully equipped vessels at his own expense, asking only that the government would transfer to them some thirty men from the navy, there was a general desire that the proposition should he accepted. Memorials to that effect were sent to Congress from the cities of New York and Philadelphia. The matter was not decided, however, for a year.
In 1850 the two Grinnell vessels, the "Advance" and " Rescue," sailed under the command of Lieutenant De Haven. In the same year and for the same purpose there went from England, in all, ten other vessels. Of these two, the " Lady Franklin," a fine vessel of two hundred and twenty tons, and the" Sophia" (named after Miss Cracroft), a brig of one hundred and twenty tons, were fitted out at Lady Franklin's desire and mainly at her own expense.
They were placed under the command of Captain Penny. A third vessel, the " Prince Albert," was paid for by Lady Franklin and her friends. She defrayed two-thirds of the expense by means of selling out of the funds all the money which she could legally dispose of. The commander of the "Albert " as Captain Forsyth, who volunteered for the service and would accept no pay. Indeed, the number of volunteers who desired no other compensation than the honor of aiding iii the search was a marked feature in the long series of arctic voyages made with the intent of learning Sir John Franklin's fate.
The result of the daring and persistent explorations of these twelve vessels may be summed up in a few words. Captain Ommaney, commanding the " Assistance," discovered at Beachy Head traces of an encampment which he supposed to be Franklin's. Lieutenant De Haven, of the American expedition, landed and confirmed the discovery. Captain Penny of the "Lady Franklin" visited the same place, explored it thoroughly, and found all the indications of a winter encampment, and the graves of three of Franklin's men. The dates upon the headboards showed that the party had been there during the winter of 1845–6—that is, the first winter after leaving England.
In the summer of 1851 the twelve vessels returned home, one after another. The " Prince Albert," however, was not allowed to remain long iii English waters. Lady Franklin caused her to be elaborately and expensively refitted, her bow and stern sheathed with wrought iron, her sides protected by planking, and sent her forth again to .brave the perils of the North. She sailed in June, 1851, from Stromness, and Lady Franklin herself came down to see her off. After a touching farewell to officers and men, she watched her standing out to sea, the Union Jack streaming from her peak and the French flag flying at the fore. This was in honor of Lieutenant
Bellot (second in command), a young Frenchman whom a romantic love of adventure had led to leave his native country and offer his services to Lady Franklin.
In 1852 the English government sent out another expedition of five vessels under the command of Sir Edward Belcher. In the same year, in consequence of a rumor received through an Esquimaux interpreter, that Sir John and his crews had been murdered at Wolstenholme Sound, Lady Franklin refitted the screw steamer Isabel " and sent her to investigate the report, which proved to be wholly false. The next year this steamer was again refitted at her expense, and carried supplies to Captains Collinson and M 'Clure of the government expedition at Behring Strait.
But it was not until 1854 that further authentic tidings were obtained of the missing explorers. In that year Pr. Rae, at the head of a land party sent by the Hudson's Bay Company, learned from the Esquimaux that, in 1850, about forty white men had been seen dragging a boat near the north shore of King William's Island, and that, later in the season, they had all (lied from cold and hunger. The story was confirmed by the finding among the Esquimaux of articles once the property of Sir John and his officers, all of which Dr. Rae secured and brought back with him. Ile obtained the reward of tell thousand pounds offered by the Admiralty to whomsoever should first ascertain the fate of the missing expedition. A search party sent next year by the government to the spot mentioned by the Esquimaux, recovered many further relics.
Lady Franklin was not satisfied. She had given up all hope of her husband's life. He had been ten years lost ; his party was provisioned for but three years ; and he was sixty years old when he sailed. But her feelings did not permit her to rest until she had rescued any possithat it had been his great good fortune to die on board his ship, escaping all the horrors of that terrible overland march. Indeed, he died before the expedition had experienced anything other than brilliant and striking success.
In 1860, Lady Franklin was presented with a gold medal by the Royal Geographical Society. She died in 1875. The monument erected to her husband in Westminster Abbey records, after his exploits and his fate, her name, her devotion, the date of her death, and the inseparable connection of her fame with his.
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