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Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XLVI, Issue 3211, 17 April 1928, Page 3

Hzmm^^mm\*e?m*i*. PWBM^BPlPi^Wsl^i^W^ APRIL 16—BIRTH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.

One hundred and forty-two years ago, on the 16th April, 1786, Sir John Franklin, one of the iiios^, famous of British explorers and 1 ine\ alscdverer of the North West Passftj^ : '%iS bom. Ajt the age of 14 he entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman,' and on the 2nd October, 1901, was present at the Battle of Copenhagen. Two months later he sailed for Australia with his cousin Captain Matthew Flinders, and during the next twelve months he assisted the celebrated scientific sailor in the exploration and £he mapping of the 1 coast line of the island' continent. He then secured a valuable training in mathematical observation and surveying, which was destined to provd of great assistance to him in his work of later years. Then followed ten years of war service in different parts of the I world, including the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, on which occasion he acted as signal officer on H.M.S. "Bellerephon. " . In 1818 he had his first experience of Arctic exploration, for he was placed in command of one of the two ships dcspatched by the Government to seek the North-West Passage, but the expedition had to be abandoned in its early stages, owing to the second ship being badly damaged in the pack-ice of the Polar Seas. In the following year he was given charge of a land expedition in Canada for the purpose of mapping the north--crn coast line east of the Coppermine River. This work occupied three years, and his services were rewarded with a captaincy and election to the Royal Society. In 1825, at the call of duty, he left the bedside of a dying wife, whom he never saw again, and proceeded on a second Canadian expedition, ! which mapped the coast-line to the ease and west, of the Mackenzie River. His; work on these two expeditions added I (Copyright

1,200 miles of coast-line to the American continent, and on his second return he was showered with honours, including a knighthood, After a period of distinguished service with the Mediterranean Fleet he • was appointed Governor of Tasmania, and his seven years of office from 1836 to- 1843 was notable for the great social and political advancement of the colony. In 1845 he undertook the command ef an expedition for the discovery of the North-West Passage, and sailed from England on the 12th. May. His two ships were last seen by a whaler on the 26th July, and then for many years the fate of Franklin and his party remained a mystery. During the next ten years numerous expeditions were despatched by the Government to search for the missing men, but without success, and when the attempt was finally abandoned the work was continned by the efforts of Lady Franklin, the explorer's second wife. With all her available means and subscriptions from the public, she equipped a small yacht, "The Fox," which sailed in July, 1857, under the command of Capt. McClintock, whose exhaustive search was rewarded with success. He traced the course taken by Franklin and discovered records left by the illfated party, which clearly showed that the gallant explorer and his men had all perished from starvation and exposure after being compelled to abandon their ships. Among the records brought back by McClintock was a document which proved that Franklin had -sailed to within a few miles of known American waters, and was therefore entitled to all the honour of being the first discoverer of the long-sought for North West Passage, ed).