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THERE STOOD NO FRIENDLY FINGER-POST TO GUIDE US

  • Robert Anstruther Goodsir
    • Part one: Australia, 1880
    • Part two: Humble headstones, painted black
    • Part three: Silent for four long winters
    • Part four: “Cabined, cribbed, confined”
    • Part five: Unreliable memories
  • Searching for the Franklin Expedition
    • John Barrow Junior
    • Sophia Cracroft
    • Jane Franklin
    • Robert Anstruther Goodsir
    • Edward Augustus Inglefield
    • Robert McClure
    • Erasmus Ommanney
    • William Penny
    • Johan Carl Christian Petersen
    • Bedford Pim
    • John Rae
    • Frederick Schwatka
    • John Stuart
  • About me

Month: February 2020

A fingerprint on the Victory Point Record

Alison arranged for me to be able to photograph the Victory Point Record in London on February 5th. Blowing up my photos, I can see a fingerprint at the bottom of the note.

Continue reading “A fingerprint on the Victory Point Record” →

February 10, 2020March 21, 2020

loganzacharyLeave a comment

John Rae’s sketch of possible Erebus or Terror ship part

DEE27BA5-30C3-4A01-80EA-AE97506ADE56Copyright: The National Archives / Image: Logan Zachary

“They may be portions of one of Sir John Franklin’s ships. God grant that the crews are safe.”

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February 8, 2020August 3, 2020

Alison Freebairn1 Comment

“Beechey Island had been traversed from end to end, every nook and corner examined by many keen and anxious searchers, but not a scrap of writing or despatch from Franklin had been found. The trail was lost, the searchers utterly at fault. Or, rather, I should say, we were like a band of travellers who had come to cross roads where there stood no friendly finger-post to guide us on our way.”

Robert Anstruther Goodsir, 25th December 1880

Recent Finger-Posts

  • “Carried for long, or to the last” – Franklin relics and the Goodsir family April 20, 2022
  • Through a land so wild: tracing the North-West Passage in Kensal Green Cemetery June 3, 2021
  • Robert Goodsir and the Franklin graves on Beechey Island January 4, 2021
  • Hidden traces of Erasmus Ommanney December 6, 2020
  • Finding HMS Investigator at the 1891 Royal Naval Exhibition November 21, 2020
  • The Pointing Hand of King William Island September 30, 2020
  • The mystery of the missing Erebus clerk September 13, 2020
  • Immortal beloved: the grave of Sophia Cracroft August 24, 2020
  • The Beechey Island Memorial Board at the Science Museum August 1, 2020
  • Sultan: A Franklin sled dog in London June 27, 2020
  • Jane and Amélie: a portrait of two ladies June 7, 2020
  • Communication channels: how one little search note found its way home May 21, 2020
  • In Praise Of… Frances J. Woodward April 23, 2020
  • Disposal records of the RUSI Museum April 6, 2020
  • Easy money: the theft of Franklin relics in 1878 April 5, 2020

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Muster Roll

  • James Fitzjames dot com by Fabiënne Tetteroo
  • Lauren Triola Writes
  • Building HMS Terror by Matthew Betts
  • Franklinova Expedice blog (čeština)
  • Captain F.R.M. Crozier, RN by Alexander K
  • Illuminator by Logan Zachary
  • 70 North Beset by S.L.
  • The Cold Boys Fandom Hub
  • Vertical Arctic by Julia Strobel
  • William Battersby: Hidden Tracks Archive
  • Hanging Fire by Karin L. Kross
  • Wall Bay: Richard Wall, the Arctic, and the Franklin Expedition by Hyge Burg
  • Trimaris by Mechtild and Wolfgang Opel
  • the thousandth part by O.K.
  • All Well by Allegra Rosenberg
  • The Snowshoe Lodge by DJ Holzhueter
  • Erebus & Terror Files by Peter Carney
  • Kabloonas by Andrés Paredes
  • Arctonauts by Edmund Wuyts
  • Visions of the North by Russell Potter
  • Captain of Terror by Regina Koellner
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