"He died much lamented": George S. Malcolm of HMS Resolute, and his grave on Griffith Island - THERE STOOD NO FRIENDLY FINGER-POST TO GUIDE US George Malcolm of HMS Resolute died in the Arctic searching for the Franklin Expedition. His grave marker would go on a journey of its own.

How's your Sunday? A bit meh?

Maybe it needs some Tragic Doomed Love! Heroism! Horrible Death! Bitching! Watercolours! Missing Gravemarkers! and Men Geeking Out Over Flowers!

It's all here:
finger-post.blog/2025/11/02/g...

#FranklinExpedition #FranklinSearch

An innocent chocolate bar - but inside are three missing ships!

The Odious Edward Belcher, removed from our view by RegularMongoose. Image shows an oil painting of a Royal Navy man in dress uniform, covered with medals he should have been stripped of. The head of the man is covered by a large paper bag.

It's really important that you text me ASAFP if you find HMSs Assistance, Pioneer and Intrepid in any of the sweets being handed out over Hallowe'en.

Edward Belcher abandoned these #FranklinSearch ships in the Arctic in 1854 and they haven't been seen since.

Observations on the Victory Point Record Entries by Logan Zachary.  2018–2022. A Bestiary of Victory Point Record Facsimiles.    Who Wrote the Victory Point Record?    Lost Letters ...

On the day Jane's letter came back, Joseph and John were preparing to travel to London to meet Leopold McClintock, who had just returned from the final #FranklinSearch with the only substantive written evidence ever found - the Victory Point Record.
www.illuminator.blog/p/vpr.html

Image shows a colour plate from George Frederick McDougall's 1857 book The Eventful Voyage of HM Discovery Ship Resolute In The Arctic Regions. McDougall's art shows two beautiful ships being abandoned in the ice. The ships' companies are setting up sails on the sledges that will take them - and what little possessions they were allowed to carry - to Beechey Island. In the lower left of the image, one of the sailors is pointing a rifle at something we can't see. I'd love to tell you it was Edward Belcher, but sadly he made it back to the UK in one syphilitic piece.

The Odious Edward Belcher. Image shows a horrid old white man with the complexion of a heavy drinker. He is wearing a frogged-out naval uniform and the world's most punchable smirk.

It's exactly 171 years since #FranklinSearch ships HMS Resolute and HMS Intrepid were abandoned in the Arctic by The Odious Edward Belcher.

No, I'm not over it.

A note handwritten in pencil on bad paper. It reads: "Memo. Whether you like it or not you must do it."

This personal note near the back of a #FranklinSearch letterbook is absolutely sending me.

Keir Starmer thinks Edward Belcher was the most successful person on the #FranklinSearch.

I /am/ going to post serious original research, based on primary sources and aiming to fill some of the many gaps in our understanding of the #FranklinExpedition and the #FranklinSearch.

But there is also going to be a lot of unserious stuff along the way. Come with me, it'll be an adventure!

"[Robert] is naturally, too, of a keen, impetuous and sensitive (perhaps also proud) temper. Dissatisfaction with himself, a species of disheartenment as to success in his profession, and some of the habits early acquired have all combined to injure and keep him back."

Starting to plan new archive trips (now I'm just doing one job, not two) and wondering if anything will top that time I found a reference to Robert Anstruther Goodsir's "penis of disheartenment". #FranklinExpedition #FranklinSearch

An oil painting of a man dressed in sealskin clothes. His right hand is resting on a flag, and his left is on his hip. He's staring off to the left. He has a widow's peak with a touch of silver at the temples. His cheekbones are high, his eyebrows on fleek, and he appears to be wearing red lipstick. He's incredibly hot and you all need to back off because I saw him first. Well, that's not exactly accurate. Many other people fancied Penny before I did, e.g. everyone he ever met on a Franklin Search. William Penny by Stephen Pearce, oil on canvas 1853, NPG 1209.

"I need not describe him: he is too well known; but suffice it to say that I saw before me, while thus quietly scrutinising him, the very man after my own heart: the one that would have exactly suited me. I have in my mind's eye now, full before me, his whole picture - daring, pushing, ardent, enthusiastic - a thorough, frank, hearty seaman - ready and rough, and rough and ready when need be - himself a working hand as well as a directing hand - there he stood, bronze-faced, fur-capped, jacketed with spy-glass slung around him, ready for any emergency that might suddenly meet him. Quick and prompt in his action, he denoted the man of firm nerve and inexhaustible resources."

It's a big day for the #FranklinSearch thirst community (me): Captain William Penny was born #OTD in 1809!

William Parker Snow speaks for everyone (me) when he described meeting Penny in 1850:

"...the very man after my own heart: the one that would have exactly suited me"

A screenshot from the Inuit Heritage Trust Place Names Program site. It shows Cornwallis Island and Griffith Island (Qikiqtaaluk/ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ). There are several orange dots on the map showing the Inuit names and history of places that were named by outsiders in the 19th Century. Highlighted is Cape Dungeness, named by the 1850-51 Franklin Search expedition. The Inuit name is Amaamannguap Nuvua and is a lot more accurate: "Named for two hills behind this point that look like breasts."

Just think. If the men of the 1850-51 #FranklinSearch expedition had been a little less uptight, our maps could have been blessed with Cape Boobies.

Sketch of McCormick Bay by Robert McCormick, from 'Narrative of a boat expedition up the Wellington channel in the year 1852, under the command of R. M'Cormick, R.N., F.R.C.S., in H.M.B. 'Forlorn Hope,' in search of Sir John Franklin'.

I appreciate Robert McCormick including this sketch (by him) of McCormick Bay in his published 1854 narrative in search of Sir John Franklin, with the footnote that he did NOT name it.

"Gosh, it was the Hydrographer of the Admiralty, not me!" #FranklinSearch #NavalHistory #19thC

Text: "Scenes from the Life of an Unprotected Arctic Officer. Mr Muff being away on a shooting excursion, takes his dinner, and his day's allowance of rum, after which he feels inclined to slaughter a few bears."

Good morning all. As the weather's getting colder, I wanted to share a cautionary tale about the dangers of exploring the North-West Passage.

A good Polar outfit begins with a good pair of Inexpressibles. Let's look at Mr Muff from Horatio Austin's #19thC #FranklinSearch of 1850-51.