87-660: The Murchison Award , also referred to as the Murchison Grant , was first given by the Royal Geographical Society in 1882 for publications judged to have contributed most to geographical science in preceding recent years. Source (1882–1982): British Museum Source (1970 onwards) Royal Geographical Society Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) , often shortened to RGS ,
174-540: A body of relevant work; alternatively, a previous five-year commitment at the regular member level (less, at the council's discretion) is also considered for eligibility. Fellows may use the post-nominal designation FRGS after their names. Since 2002 the society has been granted the power to award the status of chartered geographer. The status can be obtained only by those who have a degree in geography or related subject and at least 6 years' geographical experience, or 15 years' geographical work experience for those without
261-799: A cairn on Arthurs Seat , a small mountain just inside Port Phillip Bay in Victoria , Australia, that he had visited as a midshipman with Captain Matthew Flinders in April 1802. On this trip he was accompanied by Captain Reid of The Briars and Andrew Murison McCrae of Arthurs Seat Station, now known as McCrae Homestead . Exploration of the Arctic coastal mainland after Franklin's second Arctic expedition had left less than 500 km (311 mi) of unexplored Arctic coastline. The British decided to send
348-634: A career at sea, so in March 1800, Franklin's father secured him a Royal Navy appointment on HMS Polyphemus . Commanded by Captain Lawford, the Polyphemus carried 64 guns and, at the time of Franklin's appointment, was still at sea. He did not join the vessel until the autumn of 1800. Initially serving as a first-class volunteer, Franklin soon saw action in the Battle of Copenhagen in which
435-530: A combination of bad weather, years locked in ice, poisoned food, botulism , starvation, and disease, including scurvy, had killed everyone in the Franklin party. In October 2009, marine archaeologist Robert Grenier outlined recent discoveries of sheet metal and copper which have been recovered from 19th-century Inuit hunting sites. Grenier firmly believes these pieces of metal once belonged to the Terror and formed
522-531: A crew of 24 officers and 110 men. The ships travelled north to Aberdeen and the Orkney Isles for supplies. From Scotland, the ships sailed to Greenland with HMS Rattler and a transport ship, Barretto Junior . After misjudging the location of Whitefish Bay on Disko Island , the expedition backtracked and finally harboured in that far north outpost to prepare for the rest of their voyage. Five crew members were discharged and sent home on
609-783: A degree. Being awarded the status allows the use of the post-nominal letters "CGeog". Chartered geographer (teacher) is a professional accreditation available to teachers who can demonstrate competence, experience and professionalism in the use of geographical knowledge or skills in and out of the classroom, and who are committed to maintaining their professional standards through ongoing continuing professional development (CPD). The society's research and study groups bring together active researchers and professional geographers in particular areas of geography. There are 27 active research groups, with each group organising their own seminars, conferences, workshops and other activities. The society also presents awards to geographers that have contributed to
696-693: A lecture theatre in Burlington Gardens , London which was lent to it by the Civil Service Commission. Under the patronage of King William IV it later became known as the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and was granted its royal charter under Queen Victoria in 1859. Another notable early member was Sir John Franklin . The Society has been a key associate and supporter of many famous explorers and expeditions , including those of: A new impetus
783-496: A note later found on that island, Franklin died there on 11 June 1847 , but the exact location of his grave is unknown. After two years and no word from the expedition, Lady Franklin urged the Admiralty to send a search party. Because the crew carried supplies for three years, the Admiralty waited another year before launching a search and offering a £20,000 reward (equivalent to £2,308,624 in 2023) for finding
870-518: A set of statutes and standing orders. The members of council and the president are elected from and by its fellows, who are allowed to use the postnominal title FRGS. As a chartered body, the RGS holds the Register of Chartered Geographers in the public interest, a source of qualified, practising and experienced professional geographers. Fellows may apply for chartership if they fulfil the criteria. The RGS
957-484: A small number were Irishmen and Scotsmen. Erebus and Terror were sturdily built and were outfitted with recent inventions. These included steam engines from the London and Greenwich Railway that enabled the ships to make 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) on their own power, a unique combined steam-based heating and distillation system for the comfort of the crew and to provide large quantities of fresh water for
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#17327903440321044-525: A trial of an enhanced moving map that featured Hidden Journeys content. Developed in partnership between Hidden Journeys and the IFE software company Airborne Interactive, the enhanced map is available for the Singapore-London route on the airline's brand new Boeing 777-300ER (flight number SQ308 and SQ319), and features a range of geographical facts and highlights, photography and maps, all curated by
1131-473: A well-equipped Arctic expedition to complete the charting of the Northwest Passage. After Sir James Clark Ross declined an offer to command the expedition, an invitation was extended to Franklin, who, despite being 59 years old, accepted what was to become Franklin's lost expedition . A younger man, Commander James Fitzjames , was given command of HMS Erebus , and Franklin was named
1218-456: A wide variety of careers. Educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth , he soon became interested in a career at sea. His father, who intended for Franklin to enter the church or become a businessman, was initially opposed but was reluctantly convinced to allow him to go on a trial voyage on a merchant ship when he was aged 12. His experience of seafaring only confirmed his interest in
1305-469: A wide variety of sporting, scientific and youth expeditions from 1965 to the present day. The society holds one of the largest private map collections in the world which is continuously increasing. It includes one million sheets of maps and charts, 3000 atlases, 40 globes and 1000 gazetteers. The earliest printed item in the Collection dates back to 1482. The RGS-IBG also holds manuscript materials from
1392-503: Is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences, the society has 16,000 members, with its work reaching the public through publications, research groups and lectures. The RGS was founded in 1830 under the name Geographical Society of London as an institution to promote the 'advancement of geographical science'. It later absorbed
1479-541: Is available by application from postgraduate students or those within five years of graduating from their first degree. Fellows of the RGS come from a wide range of professional backgrounds. They must either be proposed by an existing fellow or an individual may submit evidence of his or her own work and academic publications in the field of geography and closely related subjects such as international development , climate change and expedition medicine . Applicants must be of at least 21 years of age and provide evidence of
1566-429: Is inter-linked with the history of British geography, exploration and discovery. Information, maps, charts and knowledge gathered on expeditions was sent to the RGS, making up its now unique geographical collections. The society published its first journal in 1831 and from 1855, accounts of meetings and other matters were published in the society proceedings. In 1893, this was replaced by The Geographical Journal which
1653-613: Is still published today. The society was also pivotal in establishing geography as a teaching and research discipline in British universities, and funded the first geography positions in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge . With the advent of a more systematic study of geography, the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) was formed in 1933, by thirteen geographers including Hilda Ormsby , Andrew Charles O'Dell , as
1740-642: The Arctic and its people. In 1902 they awarded khan Bahadur Sher Jang a Sword of Honour (the Black Memorial) in recognition of his valuable services to geography In total the society awards 17 medals and awards including honorary membership and fellowship. Some of the other awards given by the RGS include: The society's collections consist of over two million documents, maps, photographs, paintings, periodicals, artefacts and books, and span 500 years of geography, travel and exploration. The society preserves
1827-693: The Franklin River and the town of Franklin in Tasmania, as well as many streets and schools, including Sir John Franklin School, Calgary, AB. The Australian oceanographic research vessel RV Franklin and the Canadian Coast Guard vessel CCGS Sir John Franklin both bear his name. The wintering site of Franklin's second Canadian expedition, in Délı̨nę , Northwest Territories ,
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#17327903440321914-610: The Northwest Passage in 1845, Franklin's ships became icebound off King William Island in what is now Nunavut , where he died in June 1847. The icebound ships were abandoned ten months later, and the entire crew died from causes such as starvation, hypothermia , and scurvy . Franklin was born in Spilsby , Lincolnshire, on 16 April 1786 , the ninth of twelve children born to Hannah Weekes and Willingham Franklin. His father
2001-616: The Polyphemus participated as part of Horatio Nelson 's squadron. An expedition around the coast of Australia aboard HMS Investigator , commanded by Captain Matthew Flinders , followed, with Franklin now a midshipman . He accompanied Captain Nathaniel Dance on the Earl Camden , frightening off Admiral Charles de Durand-Linois at the Battle of Pulo Aura in the South China Sea on 14 February 1804 . He
2088-687: The Rattler and Barretto Junior , reducing the ships' final crew size to 129. The expedition was last seen by Europeans on 26 July 1845 , when Captain Dannett of the whaler Prince of Wales encountered Terror and Erebus moored to an iceberg in Lancaster Sound . It is now believed that the expedition wintered on Beechey Island in 1845–46. Terror and Erebus became trapped in ice off King William Island in September 1846. According to
2175-714: The Société de Géographie of France. On 25 January 1836 , he was made Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order and a Knight of the Greek Order of the Redeemer . Franklin was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land in 1837 but was removed from office in 1843. He is remembered by a significant landmark in the centre of Hobart —a statue of him dominates the park known as Franklin Square , which
2262-562: The Antarctic adventures of Scott and Shackleton to the pioneering journeys of Livingstone, Baker, Speke and Burton. The RGS-IBG provides funding for geographical research and scientific expeditions. The society offers a number of grants to researchers, students, teachers and independent travellers. More than 70 projects are supported each year and in excess of £180,000 is awarded annually. Research has been conducted in more than 120 countries, from Namibia to Brazil to Greenland. Every year
2349-567: The Institute of British Geographers) was formed. The society also works together with other existing bodies serving the geographical community, in particular the Geographical Association and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society . In 2004, the RGS's historical collections relating to scientific exploration and research, which are of national and international importance, were opened to
2436-455: The Inuit descended into the darkness of the hull with their seal-oil lamps, where they found a tall dead man in an inner cabin. Grenier believes it was there they recovered the copper, which was more valuable than gold to them, and tools, including shears from the ship's workshop with which to work it. Hauntingly, they also reported that one of the masts was on fire. Grenier wonders if what they saw
2523-628: The Patron's. The award has been given to notable geographers including David Livingstone (1855), Nain Singh Rawat (1876), Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen (1878), Alfred Russel Wallace (1892), and Frederick Courtney Selous (1893) to more recent winners including Percy Harrison Fawcett (1916), Professor William Morris Davis (1919), Sir Halford John Mackinder (1945), Professor L. Dudley Stamp (1949), Professor Richard Chorley (1987) and Professor David Harvey (1995). In 2004 Harish Kapadia
2610-426: The RGS was seen as too focused on exploration. IBG activities included organising conferences, field trips, seminars, and specialist research groups and publishing a journal, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers . The RGS and IBG co-existed for 60 years until 1992 when a merger was discussed. In 1994, members were balloted and the merger agreed. In January 1995, the new Royal Geographical Society (with
2697-688: The RGS-IBG helps teams of students and researchers to get into the field with Geographical Fieldwork Grants, the society's longest running grant scheme. The newest initiative is the RGS-IBG International Field Centre Grants, for work in international field centres in developing nations. Independent travel grants support geographical expeditions. Each year, the society supports more than 50 student fieldwork projects, from PhD students collecting data for their dissertation to groups of undergraduates looking to get out into
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2784-496: The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). Information is delivered in real time, with content changing as the flight progresses, so for example, while a passenger is passing over the United Kingdom, they'll be met with a pop-up that explains the origins and importance of the English Channel. The RGS-IBG education department offers courses, resources, accreditation, grants, awards, competitions and school membership, all for
2871-628: The Scottish explorer John Rae , while surveying the Boothia Peninsula for the Hudson's Bay Company, discovered the true fate of the Franklin party from talking to Inuit hunters. He was told both ships had become icebound, and the men had tried to reach safety on foot but had succumbed to cold, and some had resorted to cannibalism. Forensic evidence of cut marks on the skeletal remains of crew members found on King William Island during
2958-628: The Society was the former Prime Minister Viscount Goderich and the first Secretary Alexander Maconochie (who became the first professor of Geography at the University College London ), with another notable council member being Sir Francis Beaufort . Like many learned societies , it had started as a dining club in London, where select members held informal dinner debates on current scientific issues and ideas. It later absorbed
3045-427: The Society, consisting mainly of cultural objects from around the world, ranging from Inuit boots (from Canadian Arctic) to ceremonial leopard's claws (from the then Belgian Congo), paraphernalia of exploration, for example oxygen sets used in the various attempts on Everest, and personal items belonging to explorers, such as Shackleton's Burberry helmet. Artefacts from the collection have been loaned to exhibitions around
3132-554: The South Pole in 1912. The society is governed by its board of trustees called the council, which is chaired by its president. The members of council and the president are elected from its fellowship . The council consists of 36 members, 22 of which are elected by fellows and serve for a three-year term. In addition to the elected trustees, there are honorary members—who include the Duke of Kent as honorary president—who sit on
3219-667: The advancement of geography. The most prestigious of these awards are the Founder's Medal and the Patron's Medal . The award is given for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery", and are approved by King Charles III . The awards originated as an annual gift of fifty guineas from King William IV , first made in 1831, "to constitute a premium for the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". The society decided in 1839 to change this monetary award into two gold medals: Founder's Medal and
3306-465: The air. Since launching, online guides have been published for more than 25 flight paths, including London to Johannesburg , New York City to Los Angeles, Sydney to Singapore, Madrid to Rio de Janeiro . The Hidden Journeys project is also integrating its content with the moving maps aboard airliners , as a new form of in-flight entertainment (IFE) that has been termed geo-entertainment or geotainment. In December 2013, Singapore Airlines began
3393-732: The benefit of teachers, students and parents. It also runs the Geography Ambassador scheme. The society produces cases studies, lesson plans and activity ideas for an all levels of learning, from KS1 up to post-GCSE. The Geography in the News website is available for student members and young geographers. It has more than 300 topical case studies. Many of the society's other resources are free to use. John Franklin Sir John Franklin KCH FRS FLS FRGS (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847)
3480-470: The big issues likely to affect our lives and society in the coming years. The talks are held at the society's headquarters with all talks available to watch online along with additional information. Discovering Britain is a website featuring a series of self-led geographical walks that help explain the stories behind the UK's built and natural landscapes. Each walk explores a particular landscape, finding out about
3567-475: The collections for the benefit of future generations, while providing public access and promoting collections-related educational programmes for schools and lifelong learners. The Foyle Reading Room acts as a consultation space for using the society's collections, and hosts showcases and workshops as well as the Be Inspired series of talks. The artefacts collection includes over a thousand items brought to
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3654-661: The council. The society has five specialist committees that it derives advice from: the Education Committee, Research Committee, Expedition and Fieldwork Committee, Information Resources Committee, and the Finance Committee. There are four categories of individual membership: Anyone with an interest in geography is eligible to apply to become a member of the RGS-IBG. Students who are studying geography (or an allied subject) at GCSE, A Level or as an undergraduate (or at equivalent levels). This status
3741-421: The development of geographical knowledge and the historical development of geography. Since 1994, the society has recorded the majority of its Monday night lectures. Society members and fellows can watch selected lectures from 2006 onward online. The society's picture library holds over half a million photographs, artworks, negatives, lantern slides and albums dating from around 1830. Historic images range from
3828-439: The discipline. The society supports innovation in teaching geography at secondary and higher education level, offering several awards for school teachers to work alongside researchers in geographical research, so to develop educational resources for the classroom, and to create teaching materials. 21st Century Challenges is the society's discussion series that aims to improve public understanding of, and engagement with, some of
3915-730: The east. At this time, the only known points on the north coast were a hundred or so miles east from the Bering Strait, the mouth of the Mackenzie, Franklin's stretch east of the Coppermine, and a bit of the Gulf of Boothia which had been seen briefly from the land.) Supplies were better organised this time, in part because they were managed by Peter Warren Dease of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). After reaching Great Slave Lake using
4002-419: The engine's boilers, a mechanism that enabled the iron rudder and propeller to be drawn into iron wells to protect them from damage, ships' libraries of more than 1,000 books, and three years' worth of conventionally preserved or tinned preserved food supplies. The tinned preserved food was supplied by a cut-rate provisioner who was awarded the contract a few months before the ships were to sail. Though
4089-652: The expedition commander. Captain Francis Crozier , who had commanded HMS Terror during the Ross expedition of 1841–1844 to the Antarctic , was appointed executive officer and commander of Terror . Franklin was given command on 7 February 1845 , and received official instructions on 5 May 1845 . The crew was chosen by the Admiralty . Most of them were Englishmen, many were from northern England, and
4176-416: The expedition. The money and Franklin's fame led to many searches. At one point, ten British and two American ships, USS Advance and USS Rescue , headed for the Arctic. Eventually, more ships and men were lost looking for Franklin than in the expedition itself. Ballads such as " Lady Franklin's Lament ", commemorating Lady Franklin's search for her lost husband, became popular. In
4263-507: The field for the first time. Grants are available for both human and physical geography projects, in any area of the world. The society supports a range of field and desk-based research by academic geographers, from established researchers undertaking fieldwork to early career academics working on smaller projects. The RGS-IBG also supports academics attending geographical conferences around the world. Some awards focus on particular geographical regions or topics, with others open to any aspect of
4350-568: The haste with which the provisioner had prepared thousands of cans of food led to sloppily-applied beads of solder on the cans' interior edges, allowing lead to leach into the food. The water distillation system too may have used lead piping and lead-soldered joints, which would have produced drinking water with a high lead content. And some blame lead poisoning for poor leadership decisions and crew ill-discipline. The Franklin Expedition set sail from Greenhithe , England, on 19 May 1845 , with
4437-476: The ice of the Great Bear Lake; Délı̨nę, built on the site of Fort Franklin, thus considers itself to be one of the birthplaces of the sport. On 5 November 1828 , he married Jane Griffin , a friend of his first wife and a seasoned traveller who proved indomitable in the course of their life together. On 29 April 1829 , he was knighted by George IV and the same year awarded the first Gold Medal of
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#17327903440324524-442: The landscape, and shaping, preserving and exploiting the landscape. Hidden Journeys is a public engagement project of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) that started in 2010. The Hidden Journeys website combines images, stories and maps (many from the Society's geographical collections) into a series of interactive guides of popular flight paths, enabling people to explore the incredible places they fly over and might see from
4611-660: The late 20th century somewhat supported the Inuit accounts of reported cannibalism . Rae's report to the Admiralty was leaked to the press, which led to widespread revulsion in Victorian society , enraged Franklin's widow, and condemned Rae to ignominy. Lady Franklin's efforts to eulogise her husband, with support from the British Establishment , led to a further 25 searches over the next four decades, none of which would add much further information of note regarding Franklin and his men, but contributed hugely to
4698-421: The latest geographical academic literature in addition to the journals published by the RGS-IBG itself. The RGS-IBG houses a collection of 4,500 expedition reports. These documents contain details of the achievements and research results of expeditions to almost every country of the world. The catalogue of these reports, and over 8,500 planned and past expeditions, is held on a database which provides contact with
4785-476: The leadership of her husband. Lady Franklin may have worked to have the Lieutenant-Governor's private botanical gardens, established in 1818, managed as a public resource. Lady Franklin also established a glyptotheque and surrounding lands to support it near Hobart. Sir John and Lady Jane Franklin adopted the daughter of the chief of an indigenous Australian tribe. She was renamed Mathinna and
4872-488: The mapping of the Arctic. In the mid-1980s, Owen Beattie, a University of Alberta professor of anthropology , began a 10-year series of scientific studies that showed that the Beechey Island crew had most likely died of pneumonia and perhaps tuberculosis . Toxicological reports indicated that lead poisoning was also a possible factor. In 1997, more than 140 years after his report, Dr. Rae's account
4959-499: The mid sixteenth century onwards, aerial photography from 1919 and contemporary satellite images. The manuscript archive collection consists of material arising out of the conduct of society business and manuscripts relating to persons or subjects of special interest. The document collection includes a few papers from before the society's founding in 1830, and is particularly useful to biographers of nineteenth and early twentieth century travellers and geographers, as well as research into
5046-428: The national monument to Sir John Franklin. It was a celebration of the contributions made by the United Kingdom in the charting of northern Canada , and honoured the loss of life in the pursuit of geographical discovery. The service also marked the 150th anniversary of Francis McClintock 's voyage aboard the yacht Fox , and that expedition's return to London with news of the tragedy. Franklin's time in Tasmania
5133-507: The nickname of "the man who ate his boots". In 1823, after returning to England, Franklin married the poet Eleanor Anne Porden . Their daughter, Eleanor Isabella, was born the following year. His wife died of tuberculosis in 1825. Eleanor Isabella married Reverend John Philip Gell in 1849. She died in 1860. In 1825, he left for his second Canadian and third Arctic expedition, the Mackenzie River expedition . The goal this time
5220-683: The older African Association , which had been founded by Sir Joseph Banks in 1788, as well as the Raleigh Club and the Palestine Association . From 1830 to 1840 the RGS met in the rooms of the Horticultural Society in Regent Street , London and from 1854 -1870 at 15 Whitehall Place, London. In 1870, the society finally found a home when it moved to 1 Savile Row , London. The society also used briefly
5307-409: The older African Association , which had been founded by Sir Joseph Banks in 1788, as well as the Raleigh Club and the Palestine Association . In 1995 it merged with the Institute of British Geographers , a body for academic geographers, to become officially the Royal Geographical Society with IBG . The society is governed by its council, which is chaired by the society's president, according to
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#17327903440325394-407: The protective plating of the ship's hull. A quote from the British newspaper The Guardian states: After studying 19th-century Inuit oral testimony – which included eyewitness descriptions of starving, exhausted men staggering through the snow without condescending to ask local people how they survived in such a wilderness – [Grenier] believes the 19th-century official accounts that all
5481-505: The provisioner's "patent process" was sound, many tins of meat provided to the Navy at about the time of Franklin's expedition were found to contain putrid meat, and a spiritualist at that time channeled a dead member of the expedition stating that putrid meat was part of the cause of disaster, as crew members were sent off hunting when the ship could have made some distance through the ice and perhaps won through to its goal. [1] [2] As well,
5568-423: The public for the first time. In the same year, a new category of membership was introduced to widen access for people with a general interest in geography. The new Foyle Reading Room and glass Pavilion exhibition space were also opened to the public in 2004. For example, in 2012 the RGS held an exhibition, in the glass Pavilion, of photographs taken by Herbert Ponting on Captain Robert Falcon Scott 's expedition to
5655-555: The quest for the Northwest Passage . A statue of Franklin in his home town bears the inscription: "Discoverer of the North West Passage". Statues of Franklin outside the Athenaeum Club in London and in Tasmania bear similar inscriptions. There is also a memorial to him in the Chapel of St Michael at Westminster Abbey . Many geographic locales are named after Franklin, among them Franklin Island in Antarctica , Franklin Island in Greenland , Franklin Strait in northern Canada, Franklin, Quebec , Franklin Sound north of Tasmania, and
5742-401: The society was closely allied for many of its earlier years with 'colonial' exploration in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the polar regions, and central Asia especially. It has been a key associate and supporter of many notable explorers and expeditions , including those of Darwin , Livingstone , Stanley , Scott , Shackleton , Hunt and Hillary . The early history of the society
5829-488: The standard HBC route, Franklin took a reconnaissance trip 1,000 mi (1,600 km) down the Mackenzie and on 16 August 1825 , became the second European to reach its mouth. He erected a flagpole with buried letters for Parry. He returned to winter at Fort Franklin (modern-day Délı̨nę ) on Great Bear Lake . The following summer he went downriver and found the ocean frozen. He worked his way west for several hundred miles and gave up on 16 August 1826 at Return Reef when he
5916-476: The summer of 1850, several expeditions, including three from England as well as one from the United States, joined in the search. They converged off the east coast of Beechey Island, where the first relics of the Franklin expedition were found, including the gravesites of three of Franklin's crewmen. Many presumed Franklin was still alive, and he was promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue in October 1852, an example of an unintentional posthumous promotion . In 1854,
6003-402: The surviving expedition members abandoned their ice-locked ships are wrong. He believes both ships drifted southwards, with at least two crew remaining until the final destruction of their vessels. One broke up, but Inuit hunters arriving at their summer hunting grounds reported discovering another ship floating in fresh ice in a cove. The ship, probably the Terror , was very neat and orderly, but
6090-399: The way in which the forces of nature, people, events and the economy have created and shaped the area. There are now more than 120 walks on the Discovering Britain website, covering all regions of the United Kingdom. Walks are themed according to the landscape in which they are located, including built, prehistoric, historic, working, hidden and changing landscapes. Walks also look at people in
6177-528: The world and are in continual demand. The library collection holds more than 150,000 bound volumes that focus on the history and geography of places worldwide. Example volumes include information on European migration, a 19th-century guidebook to Berlin, and David Livingstone's account of his search for the source of the Nile . It currently receives around 800 journal titles, as well as many more journal titles that are either not currently subscribed to, or have ceased publication, allowing society members access to
6264-768: Was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 , he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through the islands of the Arctic Archipelago , during the Coppermine expedition of 1819 and the Mackenzie River expedition of 1825, and served as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1837 to 1843. During his third and final expedition , an attempt to traverse
6351-671: Was a merchant descended from a line of country gentlemen, while his mother was the daughter of a farmer. One of his brothers later entered the legal profession and eventually became a judge in Madras ; another joined the East India Company ; while a sister, Sarah, was the mother of Emily Tennyson , wife of Alfred, Lord Tennyson . John Franklin must have been affected by an obvious desire to better his social and economic position, given that his elder brothers struggled, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, to establish themselves in
6438-404: Was about 150 mi (240 km) east of Beechey's Point Barrow. Reaching safety at Fort Franklin on 21 September 1826 , he left on 20 February 1827 and spent the rest of the winter and spring at Fort Chipewyan . He reached Liverpool on the first of September 1827. Richardson's eastward journey was more successful. Franklin's diary from this expedition describes his men playing hockey on
6525-520: Was awarded the Patron's Medal for contributions to geographical discovery and mountaineering in the Himalayas, making him the second Indian to receive the award in its history. In 2005 the Founder's Medal was awarded to Professor Sir Nicholas Shackleton for his research in the field of Quaternary Palaeoclimatology and the Patron's Medal was awarded to Professor Jean Malaurie for a lifelong study of
6612-749: Was chosen to lead the Coppermine expedition overland from Hudson Bay to chart the north coast of Canada eastwards from the mouth of the Coppermine River . On his 1819 expedition, Franklin fell into the Hayes River at Robinson Falls and was rescued by a member of his expedition about 90 m (98 yd) downstream. Between 1819 and 1822, he lost 11 of the 20 men in his party. Most died of starvation or exhaustion, but there were also at least one murder and suggestions of cannibalism . The survivors were forced to eat lichen and even attempted to eat their own leather boots. This gained Franklin
6699-530: Was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1996. The explorer was also memorialised when one of Canada's Northwest Territories subdivisions was named the District of Franklin . Franklin's gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan) of North America was also named after him. In 2009, a special service of Thanksgiving was held in the chapel at the Royal Naval College to accompany the rededication of
6786-643: Was dramatised in the play Jane, My Love and its radio adaptation The Franklins of Hobart Town . In September 2014, the wreck of HMS Erebus was rediscovered in Wilmot and Crampton Bay near the Adelaide Peninsula , and, in September 2016, the wreck of HMS Terror was discovered, in Terror Bay on the south coast of King William Island , in "pristine" condition. The wrecks were found many miles south of their last known location off
6873-399: Was finally vindicated; cut marks caused by blades were discovered on the bones of some of the crew found on King William Island, strongly suggesting that conditions had become so dire that some crew members resorted to cannibalism. Evidence suggestive of breakage and boiling of bones, characteristic of efforts to extract marrow, was subsequently identified. It appeared from these studies that
6960-468: Was founded on 16 July 1830 under the name Geographical Society of London as an institution to promote the 'advancement of geographical science'. The seven founding members of the society were Sir John Barrow (geographer), Sir Roderick Murchison (geologist), Robert Brown (botanist), Lord Broughton (politician), Mountstuart Elphinstone (colonial administrator), Bartholomew Frere (diplomat) and William Henry Smyth (Admiral). The first President of
7047-543: Was given to the society's affairs in 1911, with the election of Earl Curzon , the former Viceroy of India , as the society's President (1911–1914). The premises in Savile Row (once described by Curzon as "cramped and rather squalid") were sold and the present site, Lowther Lodge in Kensington Gore, was purchased for £100,000 and opened for use in April 1913. In the same year the society's ban on women fellows
7134-590: Was lifted. Lowther Lodge was built in 1874 for the William Lowther by Norman Shaw , one of the most outstanding domestic architects of his day. Extensions to the east wing were added in 1929, and included the New Map Room and the 750 seat Lecture Theatre. The extension was formally opened by the Duke of York (later King George VI) at the RGS centenary celebrations on 21 October 1930. The history of
7221-591: Was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 aboard HMS Bellerophon . During the War of 1812 against the United States, Franklin, now a lieutenant, served aboard HMS Bedford and was wounded during the Battle of Lake Borgne on 14 December 1814. Franklin commanded HMS Trent in 1818 on a journey from London to Spitzbergen , now Svalbard. The overall expedition was commanded by Captain David Buchan on HMS Dorothea . In 1819, Franklin
7308-729: Was raised with their own daughter Eleanor, but she was abandoned in Tasmania when the Franklins returned to England in 1843. The village of Franklin , on the Huon River , is named in his honour, as is the Franklin River on the West Coast of Tasmania, one of the better known Tasmanian rivers due to the Franklin Dam controversy . Shortly after leaving his post as Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Franklin revisited
7395-540: Was the funnel from the galley still smoking from a meal cooked that morning before the last of Franklin's men disappeared from history. A memorial to Franklin was set up almost immediately on the assumption of his death. This is in Westminster Abbey to a design of Matthew Noble . For years after the loss of the Franklin party, the media of the Victorian era portrayed Franklin as a hero who led his men in
7482-673: Was the mouth of the Mackenzie River from which he would follow the coast westward and possibly meet Frederick William Beechey who would try to sail northeast from the Bering Strait . With him was John Richardson who would follow the coast east from the Mackenzie to the mouth of the Coppermine River. At the same time, William Edward Parry would try to sail west from the Atlantic. (Beechey reached Point Barrow and Parry became frozen-in 900 mi [1,400 km] to
7569-465: Was the site of the original Government House. On the plinth below the statue appears Tennyson 's epitaph: Not here! The white north hath thy bones and thou Heroic sailor soul Art passing on thine happier voyage now Toward no earthly pole His wife worked to set up a university, which was eventually established in 1890, and a museum, credited to the Royal Society of Tasmania in 1843 under
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