Sir John Franklin and the Arctic Regions

by Peter Lund Simmonds

On May 18, 1845 Sir John Franklin set sail with a crew of 134 men on two ships, HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, in an attempt to find the Northwest Passage. The ships were last seen on July 26th by an Arctic whaler off the entrance to Lancaster Sound and from there they vanished, never to be seen again. A series of rescue expeditions discovered that disaster had overtaken the expedition and none of the crew made it out of the Arctic region alive.
Sir John Franklin and the Arctic Regions, written 6 years after his disappearance, but before the final fate of him and his crew had been determined, sheds light on Arctic exploration in the 19th century and Franklin’s successful earlier expeditions in particular, as well as providing a gripping account of the growing unease as nothing further is heard from them. By using letters and logs from the actual expeditions sent to discover the fate of the doomed voyage, Simmonds vividly brings to life the dangers explorers faced in the hostile conditions of the Arctic and the drive and courage of the men who were determined to expose its secrets.

Genres: History

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1851

About the author

Peter Lund Simmonds (1814-1897) was a British-Danish author, editor, journalist, and agricultural writer born in Aarhus, Denmark. Raised in England after being adopted into the family of a Royal Navy officer, he worked in the merchant marine and later in Jamaica before beginning a long literary and publishing career. He edited periodicals including Simmonds’ Colonial Magazine and The Technologist, and became known for writings on trade, agriculture, technology, and food. Among his notable works was The Curiosities of Food, an exploration of culinary traditions and unusual foods from around the world, reflecting Victorian fascination with global culture and commerce.