Memorial: M1300

Memorial at Beechey Island, Qikiqtaaluck Region, Nunavut, Canada commemorating John Torrington, RN, d. 1846

Location

Beechey Island, Qikiqtaaluck Region, Nunavut, Canada, Rest of the World

Transcript

'SACRED TO / THE MEMORY OF / JOHN TORRINGTON / WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE / JANUARY 1ST, AD 1846 / ON BOARD OF / H.M. SHIP TERROR / AGED 20 YEARS’

‘This marker is a replica / the original is housed at the / Prince of Wales / Northern Heritage Centre / Yellowknife, N.W.T. / 1997'

Details

Type: Headboard (replica)
Materials: Wood and brass
Vessel: HMS Terror

People

Torrington, John
Age: 20
Date of Death: 1/1/1846
Cause of Death: Infectious disease
Rank / Occupation: Stoker
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: See W Braine, d. 1846. Torrington’s grave is alongside Thomas Morgan, John Hartnell and William Braine. Anthropologist, Owen Beattie lead a team to exhumed the bodies in 1984 and they determined the deceased had signs of lead poisoning and TB. He probably died of pneumonia.

Bibliography: Peter C. Sutherland 'Journal of a voyage in Baffin's Bay and Barrow Straits, in the years 1850-1851...' (London, 1852) p. 305.
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