John Franklin, known for his seamanship, courage,…
1819 CE
John Franklin, known for his seamanship, courage, and resourcefulness, is chosen in 1819 to lead an expedition overland from York Factory on Hudson Bay to chart the north coast of Canada eastwards from the mouth of the Coppermine River.
Born in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, in 1786 and educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth, Franklin is the ninth of the twelve children of Willingham Franklin, the descendant of a long line of country gentlemen, and his his wife Hannah Weekes.
One of his sisters is the mother of Emily Tennyson.
Franklin's father had initially opposed his son's interest in a career at sea.
However, Franklin was determined and his father had reluctantly allowed him to go on a trial voyage with a merchant ship.
This hardened young Franklin's resolve, so at the age of fourteen his father had secured him a Royal Navy appointment on HMS Polyphemus.
Franklin was later present at a number of historic voyages and naval battles, including the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, an expedition to explore the coast of Australia on HMS Investigator with his uncle, Captain Matthew Flinders, a return to the Napoleonic Wars, serving aboard HMS Bellerophon at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805; he was also present at the Battle of New Orleans.
He had accompanied Captain Dance on the East India Company's ship the Earl Camden, frightening off Admiral Linois at the Battle of Pulo Aura in the mouth of the straits of Malacca on February 14, 1804.
Given command of the Trent, under the leadership of Commander David Buchan in the Dorothea, in 18181, the two ships had set sail from Spitsbergen, but due to pack ice they had returned after six months.