Polar Exploration

Memorial: M2370

Memorial at Old Royal Naval College Chapel, Greenwich commemorating Sir John Franklin and the officers of ‘Erebus’ and ‘Terror’ who died in the Arctic 1845-1848

Location

Old Royal Naval College Chapel, Greenwich, London, England

Transcript

'TO THE MEMORY OF / REAR ADMIRAL SIR JOHN FRANKLIN KT., K.C.H. / AND OF THE UNDERMENTIONED OFFICERS / OF HER MAJESTY'S SHIPS / EREBUS/CAPT. JAMES FITZJAMES / COMMR. GRAHAM GORE / LIEUT. HENRY T.D. LE VESCONTE / LIEUT. JAMES WALTER FAIRHOLME. / LIEUT. ROBERT ORME SARGENT / LIEUT. CHARLES F. DES VOEUX / LIEUT. EDWARD COUCH / MR. CHARLES H. OSMER, PAYMASTER / MR. STEPHEN S. STANLEY, SURGEON / MR. HARRY D.S. GOODSIR ACTG. ASST. SURG. / MR. JAMES REID (CIVILIAN), ICE MASTER/MR. HENRY F. COLLINS, 2ND MASTER / MR. THOS. TERRY, BOATSWAIN / MR. JOHN WEEKES, CARPENTER / AND TERROR / CAPT. FRANS. RAWDEN MOIRA CROZIER / COMMR. EDWARD LITTLE / LIEUT. GEORGE HENRY HODGSON / LIEUT. JOHN IRVING / LIEUT. FREDK. JOHN HORNBY / LIEUT. ROBERT THOMAS / MR. JOHN SMART PEDDIE, SURGEON / MR. ALEXR. MCDONALD, ASSIST. SURGEON / MR.THOS. BLANKY (CIVILIAN), ICE MASTER / MR. GILLIES ALEXR. MCBEAN, 2ND MASTER / MR. EDWIN JAMES HOWARD HELPMAN / (CLERK IN CHARGE) / MR. JOHN LANE, BOATSWAIN / MR. THOS. HONEY, CARPENTER / ALSO IN MEMORY OF / THE SEVERAL SEAMAN, PETTY OFFICERS AND MARINES; / WHO SAILED FROM ENGLAND IN THE SHIPS NAMED; / AND WHO WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, / LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY / WHILE EMPLOYED ON A VOYAGE TO THE ARCTIC SEA, / IN SEARCH OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE, A.D.1845-1854', 'BENEATH LIE THE REMAINS / OF ONE OF FRANKLIN'S COMPANIONS / WHO PERISHED IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS / 1848 / DISCOVERED AND BROUGHT AWAY FROM / KING WILLIAM'S LAND BY CAPTAIN HALL / THE UNITED STATES ARCTIC EXPLORER / 1869'

Details

Description: Inscription tablet with a pediment above, on which are carved two entwined wreaths of oak and olive. It is flanked by the figures of a naval officer studying a chart and a despondant seaman. In the background - two departing vessels, icebergs and the Pole Star.
Type: Monument
Position: Chapel vestibile
Materials: Marble
Date Erected: 1858
Artists: Richard Westmacott
Vessel: HMS Erebus, HMS Terror

People

Blanky, Thomas
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Icemaster
Organisation:
Collins, Henry F.
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: 2nd Master
Organisation: Royal Navy
Couch, Edward
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Crozier, Francis Rawden Moira
Age:
Date of Death: 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Captain RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Des Voeux, Charles F.
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Fairholme, James Walter
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Fitzjames, James
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Captain RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Franklin, John
Age:
Date of Death: 11/6/1847
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Rear Admiral
Organisation: Royal Navy
Goodsir, Harry D. S.
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Assistant Surgeon RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Gore, Graham
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Commander RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Helpman, Edwin James Howard
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Clerk in charge
Organisation: Royal Navy
Hodgson, George Henry
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Honey, Thomas
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Carpenter
Organisation: Royal Navy
Hornby, Frederick John
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Irving, John
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Lane, John
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Boatswain
Organisation: Royal Navy
Le Vesconte, Henry T. D.
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Little, Edward
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Commander RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
McBean, Gillies Alexander
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: 2nd Master
Organisation: Royal Navy
McDonald, Alexander
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Assistant Surgeon RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Osmer, Charles H.
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Paymaster
Organisation: Royal Navy
Peddie, John Smart
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Surgeon RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Reid, James
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Icemaster
Organisation:
Sargent, Robert Orme
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Stanley, Stephen S.
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Surgeon RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Terry, Thomas
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Boatswain
Organisation: Royal Navy
Thomas, Robert
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Lieutenant RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Weekes, John
Age:
Date of Death: circa 1848
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Carpenter
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: Erected by order of Parliament in the Painted Hall, subsequently moved to a small room behind the altar. Restored and relocated to the chapel vestibule 29 October 2009.
Bibliography: 'Illustrated London News' (8 January 1859) pp.35-36.
Recorder: B. Tomlinson
Photographer: © RMG E9021-24
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