williamedwardparry

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Victorian polar explorers - portraits vs photographs

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Charles Wilkes writing to his wife, Jane, during preparations for the U.S. Exploring Expedition (Sea of Glory, Nathaniel Philbrick).

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Happy 212th Birthday to James Fitzjames!! Have a good one old boy!

This is a bit of a rush job tbh but he's always on my mind and he has such an incredible and frankly unbelievable story that I couldn't not make something to celebrate him.

I tried to include different iconography from his life but had a hard time tracking down clear pics of some of it (particularly his house in Abbots Langley).

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Erebus passing through the chain of bergs (1842) by Richard Brydges Beechey

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It’s honestly pretty obvious, given the fact that he was well known for playing violin and playing dress up, but this goofy caricature of a guy fiddling with a peg leg (drawn on one of the Parry Expedition fancy ball announcement posters) is 100% Edward Parry himself according to his son’s book on the man

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John Richardson was a naturalist on John Franklin's disastrous Coppermine expedition. In 1848 he would set out, along with John Rae, on a futile search for his former commander.

When Richardson got back from the first Franklin expedition, he presented specimens of the stomach-churning lichens the party had to survive on to another naturalist with a history of Naval voyages, Archibald Menzies.

I'll give you one guess who this Archibald is an ancestor to (answer below the cut).

WELL you just learn something new every day, don't you.

(Credit to robin on fitzserver for enlightening me about Archibald)

Source:

From a 2007 article, written for Time Out by Tobias Menzies.

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James Clark Ross, the case of the "Ross Family Papers" - and Brexit

Note: Tremendous thanks goes to JK (@commandergrahamgore) who did the absolute bulk of the ancestral research here whilst I did all of the cheerleading and late night snacking.

In 1857, following the death of his beloved wife Ann, James Clark Ross hastily wrote his last will.

"I wish to be buried by the side of my beloved wife. If there be not room there, my coffin might rest upon hers as the grave is dug purposely of sufficient depth, and thus our dust may mingle in the grave, while our souls rejoice together in glory everlasting."

Some of the phrasing used in the document suggests James didn’t expect to survive the calamity of his wife’s untimely demise. Ann was only forty and left behind four young children: James, Ann, Thomas and the three year old Andrew.

The will was last mentioned as part of a significant collection of letters, journals and other items, named as the "Ross Family Papers" — or "RFP" — by M.J. Ross, Ross' great grandson and biographer.

We don't know what happened to those papers. Some may yet be in the Scott Polar Research Institute or other archives. I'll keep digging and see what turns up.

For now, I want to talk about the branch of the Ross family we know was in possession of at least some of these documents, which gives us a further clue about the fate of "RFP" — and creates an unexpected connection to, of all things, Brexit.

First, a bit more on the papers themselves. In "Polar Pioneers: John Ross and James Clark Ross", M.J. Ross cites numerous important letters and journals from "RFP". I compiled a list of all the items referenced and here are some of the highlights:

Letter book of HMS Erebus, 1839-1843

Two of James' notebooks from 1830-32 and a diary from 1847

Letter to James Clark Ross informing him about the death of John Ross

Letters from James Clark Ross and Ann Ross to Francis Crozier, sent out on the Plover and returned undelivered (* see note at the end)

At least seven pieces of correspondence from March 1835 to July 1837 related to James' courtship with Ann

...and the aforementioned will. More may be referenced in M.J.'s other book, "Ross in the Antarctic", but I haven't received my copy yet.

Anyway, where some of these papers came from is clear enough from "Polar Pioneers" because M.J. thanks a cousin, Percy Grieve, who was in possession of a "portable desk full of papers":

Great! So we have one name at least. But if we wanted to trace the fate of RFP, we would need to find this Percy or his descendants.

The most Google-able Percy Grieve was a barrister and Conservative MP who died in 1998. But was he the Percy named by M.J. Ross?

This is where @commandergrahamgore's great archival research powers took over. We knew Percy Grieve was Isabella Ross' descendant. It wasn’t long before we learned that:

According to birth and marriage records, Isabella Ross Spence’s daughter, Isabella Lydia, married a chap called Hodgkinson in 1844

Isabella Lydia's daughter, Margaret Elinor, married a William Charles Grieve

That the poor Grieve family lost three young sons in World War I, including a William Percival Grieve...

...who, according to the Google-able Percy's obituary, was Percy's father.

There we go! Percy Grieve named by M.J. Ross was, in fact, the MP who died in 1998.

Which brings me to Brexit.

I’m an EU national who has lived in the UK for the last twenty years and since 2016 I have watched Brexit unfold with horror. The nightmare of uncertainty and self-harm lasted for years, causing me untold amounts of personal stress and angst.

During the first few months and years following the EU membership referendum there were a few figures from all sides of the political spectrum who tried their damnest to stop the country from repeatedly stabbing itself in the stomach (we’re still bleeding out btw). One person in particular, because of his senior role in the Conservative government and overall gravitas, stepped up as a vocal Remainer. He backed the People’s Vote campaign which would have given the electorate a chance to approve the final Brexit deal; and he joined the opposition in voting for a motion that would have helped stop the so-called “no deal” Brexit.

For his trouble, he had the Conservative whip withdrawn, lost a vote of confidence and, eventually, his seat in Parliament.

Despite being a Tory, Dominic Grieve, the son of M.J. Ross’ cousin Percy and descendant of Isabella Ross, was one of the few politicians that during those horrible years gave me any hope. I imagine it means very little to anyone else but it felt quite special to find his connection to my historical polar blorbo.

(Also Grieve called Boris Johnson a "charlatan" so bonus points for that, sir).

Anyway, Dominic Grieve may yet hold some clue to the “Ross Family Papers” and learning new things about his famous ancestor. For now, we keep looking.

Simplified Ross-Grieve family tree (click to expand):

Note: The Plover letters from James and Ann to Francis Crozier are included in "May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth". They are cited, however, not from a family archive but from "Polar Pioneers".

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What a 55″ Rifle Tells Us About the Height of Fairholme’s Brother

As my first post here, I wanted to share a small piece of research from my long-running interest in James Walter Fairholme and the Franklin Expedition.

In these two 19th-century studio portraits, we see Fairholme’s older brother William, confirmed through family identification. In the right image, he is standing beside a Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket — a weapon with a known length of 55 inches (139.7 cm).

The rifle rests flat on the ground and reaches to about mid-chest, which typically corresponds to ~72% of adult male height.

So by proportion:

139.7 ÷ 0.72 = 194 cm (~6′4″)

That would make Fairholme’s brother exceptionally tall for the time — and it directly supports this earlier Tumblr post that estimated James himself was very tall, based on how the sleeves of a shared coat fit him compared to James Fitzjames. Huge credit and thanks to @cockroachesunite for that brilliant piece of visual analysis — it inspired me to look closer at the portrait and rifle.

With both the coat sleeve comparison and this rifle-based scaling pointing to similar results, we can say with confidence:

The Fairholmes were a remarkably tall family.

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Alright, i may be crazy, but look

they’re both wearing the same coat (Fitzjames lent Fairholme his for the picture)

There’s actually another picture of each of them

now look at the SLEEVES

using this table (which I tested out with my brother for scale: he’s about half a foot taller than me, but his forearm’s only about 2cm longer than mine)

This is by no means exact, (and please correct me if I’m wrong) but I think it’s very probable that Fairholme was something like half a foot (at least!!) taller than Fitzjames

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I heard that there's a big to-do about an important birthday tomorrow on the 14th of June...

HAPPY 212th BIRTHDAY HENRY THOMAS DUNDAS LE VESCONTE! Born 14 June 1813!

My source for the date is a note left by his descendants with his 1841-1844 journal kept in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. The handwriting is from his great-grandnephew William Wills.

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great news: the team who restored the Belgica’s coelophone (hand-cranked reed organ) for last year’s MAS Antwerp exhibit digitized their recordings! that means that you can listen to the actual music they had on the Belgica played on their actual device like you can listen to it right now

photographs from the same source, Pauliphonic, where you will also find a video of the restorers operating the piece and almost 100 photos of the object itself :) it’s a really thorough demonstration of this instrument; I actually saw it in person at last year’s exhibit & feel this is a much, much more effective way to showcase how the “books” are shaped and stored and how much manipulation is required to play music on this thing.

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"Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June 1847": a marginal note beneath All Well on the Victory Point Record.

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Salvage of a 6pdr Cannon from HMS Erebus, marked with I&H King- 1812, before 1845

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John Ross's Carrier-pigeons!!!!!

Edward Parry to William Bailie-Hamilton, 5 October 1850 [ADM 7/190]

Lol, Parry is so funny. In October 1850, the news of the Franklin Expedition discoveries on Beechey Island reached England by a small ship sent by Lady Franklin, the Prince Albert. Parry thinks messages by Franklin will be found as the search proceeds, but how will they be brought to England with no additional ship out there?

John Ross brought some pigeons on the Felix to send news back to England. One of the pigeons actually made it back to Scotland, though! However, without the message it carried. The other ones died in the Arctic. https://pigeons-of-war.com/2024/05/17/pigeons-in-the-arctic-part-iii-sir-john-rosss-1850-51-search-for-the-lost-franklin-bay-expedition/

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April 25th, 1848: the Victory Point note is left by Captains Fitzjames and Crozier

Text of the note:

[25th April 1]848. H M Ships Terror and Erebus were deserted on the 22nd April, 5 leagues NNW of this [hav]ing been beset since 12th Sept.r 1846. The Officers & Crews consisting of 105 souls - under the Command [of Cap]tain F R M. Crozier, landed here - in lat. 69˚ 37' 42" Long. 98˚ 41' [This p]aper was found by Lt. Irving under the Cairn supposed to have been built by Sir James Ross in 1831 – 4 miles to the Northward – where it had been deposited by the late Commander Gore in May June 1847. Sir James Ross' pillar has not however been found, and the paper has been transferred to this position which is that in which Sir J. Ross' pillar was erected – Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June 1847 and the total loss by deaths in the Expedition has been to this date 9 officers & 15 men. [Signed] FRM Crozier Captain & Senior Off.r and start on tomorrow 26th for Backs Fish River [Signed] James Fitzjames Captain H.M.S. Erebus

(Images from RMG and Libraries Tasmania, transcription mine, emended from Wiki)

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Happy to have this gorgeous 1867 edition of The Sailor's Word-Book: A Dictionary of Nautical Terms, edited by Sir Edward Belcher (the Franklin Search Expedition guy who lost 4 ships on the 1852-54 expedition). The book is super useful for naval history research and can be read online, too:

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Possible alternative transcript of the down-turned flap:

"As I know[??] their

Lordships have nothing

to say to the Expedition

he alludes to"

Edward Little's handwritten letter II

A second handwritten letter from Edward Little I've found at TNA, this one is from October 28th 1834

TNA ADM 1/4866

It reads :

N°9 St Michaels Terrace Stoke

Devonport October 28th 1834

Sir,

Having been informed that Captain Chesney of the Royal Artillery is about to processed on an Expedition to the Euphrates, and that two passed Mates are to be employed under that officer, I take the earliest opportunity of offering my humble services on the occasion trusting, that an abscence of eight years on foreign service may entitle me to favourable consideration

In June 1826 I joined His Majesty's Ship Forte Captain J. Coghlan, where I remained untill that ship left the west coast to South America for England. I then joined successively His Majesty's Ships Sapphire, Alert and Dublin, and was paid off from the last named ship on 1st October last,

In June 1832, I passed my examination for Seamanship 

     To Captain the Hon'ble 

      George Elliott RN

      &&&

      Admiralty                                                                                    and

and on my arrival in England I also passed at the Royal Naval College Lord James Townshend, my last Captain is now in London, to whom, as well as my other Captain’s I can with safety refer for character and general fitness, I have the honor to be,

Sir, your most obedient

Very humble servant

E Little late Mate

of the Dublin

In the corner :

? November

As there

? have no(thing ?) to say

& and the expe(dition?) he alludes to

(Thanks to everyone on Discord who helped me with that last part, please feel free to add your own transcription as it's quite hard to read)

But this confirm several things to us : his adress being 9 Michael's Terrace, Stoke Devonport, which I have already found some mentions of it being the family's adress at the time (before any census)

And it also confirm to us that the Edward in the description book really is the same one, as we can link his Lieutenant service record to the one from the description book, before his promotion

We also now know that he passed his examination for Seamanship in 1832 while on board the Dublin, and passed his Lieutenant examination at the Royal Naval College in 1834 (Portsmouth)

But based on his service record, Edward did not join the Euphrates Expedition, as his next appointment after leaving the Dublin on Oct 2 1834, was on the Royale Adelaide, Sept 5 1835, still as Mate

His first appointment as Lieutenant would be in Dec 1837, on HMS Donegal

James Fitzjames actually took part in the Euphrates Expedition as Mate, which he joined on October 25th 1834, here is @jamesfitzjamesdotcom's post about it