Letters from Sir John Franklin to his family, 1800-1836

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Content Summary:

The letters filmed mostly date from 1800-4 were written to Franklin's parents, brother and sister. They relate to arrangements for Franklin to join the Polyphemus at Yarmouth (1800), preparations for the voyage of HMS Investigator (1801), delays in the departure, Franklin's impressions of Madeira and Cape Town, his training in navigation and astronomy, shortages of provisions, news from home, a survey of the Great Barrier Reef, his return to England (1804), the detention of Capt. Matthew Flinders at Mauritius, the knowledge gained while visiting 'the dreary and uncultivated regions of New Holland', and his loss of clothes and linen in the wreck of the Porpoise. There is also a letter (11 Nov. 1836) from Franklin to his aunt on the voyage of the Fairlie and his arrival at Cape Town, and a copy of a newspaper article on a new museum of the Royal Society of Tasmania and the erection of a statue of Franklin in Franklin Square, Hobart. In addition to the letters of Franklin, there are two letters from Matthew Flinders. (typescript copies)

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