Franklin Polar Expedition. Original manuscript instructions for the building of 4 boats used on the Rae-Richardson Arctic Expedition of 1848, the first a document dated at Portsmouth Yard, 23 April 1847, giving details of ‘Dimensions and scantlings of two boats to be built by Contract for the Arctic Expedition’ at Portsmouth Dockyard, then giving a list of materials and sizes with further text below, ’The boats to be built of the very best seasoned materials, as light as possible, consistent with strength, and to be fitted according to the usage of the dockyard, or as shall be pointed out by the surveying officer; the fastenings to be copper throughout. The boats to be finished in all respects, in a workmanlike manner, and to be such as shall be approved of by the officers of the dockyard’, the boats to be delivered to store by 15 May 1847, 1 page with integral blank leaf (watermark date 1846), together with a second single sheet giving dimensions and scantlings for two similar boats to be built for the Expedition by Mr Camper [at Gosport], 1 page; a third sheet (paper watermark date 1839), giving summary technical details of all 4 boats, plus ‘Draught of Water’ and details of 4 tool chests and their contents, including axe (1), adze (1), hand vice (2, oil stone (1), hemp (7.5 lbs), hand saw files (6), small chisels (8), compasses (2), etc., 2 pages with integral blank, all folio, plus a fourth sheet titled ‘The Arctic boats are numbered 1, 2, 3 & 4 inside their Sternposts’ with brief listings of each below, signed by J[ohn] Whettam [shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard] and addressed to W[illiam] Rice, 1 page, 4to, the last two items with a few rough pencil calculations and some spotting, loosely contained in slightly frayed old wrapping (watermark date 1819) with a later manuscript note about the contents, dated May 1900 The Rae–Richardson Arctic expedition of 1848 was an early British effort to determine the fate of the lost Franklin Polar Expedition of 1845. Part of a three-pronged rescue effort devised by the British Admiralty this expedition was led overland by Sir John Richardson and John Rae, the team exploring the accessible areas along Franklin's proposed route near the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers. Although no direct contact with Franklin's forces was achieved, Rae later interviewed the Inuit of the region and obtained credible accounts that the desperate members of Franklin's team had resorted to cannibalism. Details about the ordering and the construction of the 4 boats used on the expedition is recorded by John Richardson in Arctic Searching Expedition…, 2 volumes, Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1851, pp. 40-42. Technically demanding and innovative the boats had to be both lightweight and sea-worthy and Richardson commends William Rice ‘Assistant Master Builder of Portsmouth Yard, for the care and skill with which he worked out a successful result’. The first sheet with the Portsmouth Dockyard dimensions is dated 23 April 1847. This was exactly one month before the ‘Victory Point Note’ was written, following Franklin’s first overwintering. It ends: ‘Sir John Franklin commanding the expedition. All well. Party consists of 2 officers and 6 men left the ships on Monday 24th May, 1847’, and is signed by Gore and De Voeux. It was found eleven years later in May 1859 by William Hobson with a second part, dated 25 April 1848, noting the death of Sir John Franklin this time signed by Captains Crozier and Fitzjames.
Franklin Polar Expedition. Original manuscript instructions for the building of 4 boats used on the Rae-Richardson Arctic Expedition of 1848, the first a document dated at Portsmouth Yard, 23 April 1847, giving details of ‘Dimensions and scantlings of two boats to be built by Contract for the Arctic Expedition’ at Portsmouth Dockyard, then giving a list of materials and sizes with further text below, ’The boats to be built of the very best seasoned materials, as light as possible, consistent with strength, and to be fitted according to the usage of the dockyard, or as shall be pointed out by the surveying officer; the fastenings to be copper throughout. The boats to be finished in all respects, in a workmanlike manner, and to be such as shall be approved of by the officers of the dockyard’, the boats to be delivered to store by 15 May 1847, 1 page with integral blank leaf (watermark date 1846), together with a second single sheet giving dimensions and scantlings for two similar boats to be built for the Expedition by Mr Camper [at Gosport], 1 page; a third sheet (paper watermark date 1839), giving summary technical details of all 4 boats, plus ‘Draught of Water’ and details of 4 tool chests and their contents, including axe (1), adze (1), hand vice (2, oil stone (1), hemp (7.5 lbs), hand saw files (6), small chisels (8), compasses (2), etc., 2 pages with integral blank, all folio, plus a fourth sheet titled ‘The Arctic boats are numbered 1, 2, 3 & 4 inside their Sternposts’ with brief listings of each below, signed by J[ohn] Whettam [shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard] and addressed to W[illiam] Rice, 1 page, 4to, the last two items with a few rough pencil calculations and some spotting, loosely contained in slightly frayed old wrapping (watermark date 1819) with a later manuscript note about the contents, dated May 1900 The Rae–Richardson Arctic expedition of 1848 was an early British effort to determine the fate of the lost Franklin Polar Expedition of 1845. Part of a three-pronged rescue effort devised by the British Admiralty this expedition was led overland by Sir John Richardson and John Rae, the team exploring the accessible areas along Franklin's proposed route near the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers. Although no direct contact with Franklin's forces was achieved, Rae later interviewed the Inuit of the region and obtained credible accounts that the desperate members of Franklin's team had resorted to cannibalism. Details about the ordering and the construction of the 4 boats used on the expedition is recorded by John Richardson in Arctic Searching Expedition…, 2 volumes, Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1851, pp. 40-42. Technically demanding and innovative the boats had to be both lightweight and sea-worthy and Richardson commends William Rice ‘Assistant Master Builder of Portsmouth Yard, for the care and skill with which he worked out a successful result’. The first sheet with the Portsmouth Dockyard dimensions is dated 23 April 1847. This was exactly one month before the ‘Victory Point Note’ was written, following Franklin’s first overwintering. It ends: ‘Sir John Franklin commanding the expedition. All well. Party consists of 2 officers and 6 men left the ships on Monday 24th May, 1847’, and is signed by Gore and De Voeux. It was found eleven years later in May 1859 by William Hobson with a second part, dated 25 April 1848, noting the death of Sir John Franklin this time signed by Captains Crozier and Fitzjames.
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