The School of Social, Political and Historical Research is honoured to present this special lecture by Dr. Douglas Stenton, CM, lead researcher in a series of breakthrough discoveries related to the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Northwest Passage Expedition.
In May 1845, Sir John Franklin’s expedition left England aboard HMS Erebus and HMS Terror on a voyage of exploration to complete the Northwest Passage. Both ships became trapped in ice near King William Island (Nunavut) and by the spring of 1848 two dozen men had died, including Franklin. In a desperate attempt to escape, the 105 remaining officers and crew left the ships and set out on foot to try and reach the mainland, hundreds of kilometres to the south. None survived, turning the expedition into the worst disaster in the history of British polar exploration and one of the Arctic’s best-known tragedies.
In this presentation, Dr. Douglas Stenton will provide an overview of the expedition and discuss his team’s recent DNA investigations that have resulted in the identification of six members of the expedition. He will share why these identifications matter for understanding the expedition’s final stages and the human cost behind its legacy.
The presentation will be followed by a Q and A, moderated by Dr. Ian Milligan, Director of the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Banner image: Douglas Stenton excavating the bones of Franklin expedition sailors at Erebus Bay. Photo by Robert Park.