King William Island

King William Island,

part of the Arctic Archipelago, in the Arctic Ocean, Nunavut Territory, Canada, between Boothia Peninsula and Victoria Island. The northern coast of the island was explored (1831) by Sir James C. RossRoss, Sir James Clark,
1800–1862, British polar explorer and rear admiral. In 1818 he accompanied his uncle, Sir John Ross, in search of the Northwest Passage and commanded the Erebus.
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1837, Thomas Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company traced the southern coast. The ships of the expedition of Sir John FranklinFranklin, Sir John,
1786–1847, British explorer in N Canada whose disappearance caused a widespread search of the Arctic. Entering the navy in 1801, he fought in the battle of Trafalgar.
..... Click the link for more information. were wrecked off the west coast, and the island was further explored by searchers for Franklin, notably John RaeRae, John,
1813–93, Scottish arctic explorer, b. Orkney Islands. A physician in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company in N Canada, Rae made (1846–47) a journey of exploration from Fort Churchill to the Gulf of Boothia, which he described in his
..... Click the link for more information. and Sir Francis L. McClintockMcClintock, Sir Francis Leopold,
1819–1907, British arctic explorer. As a lieutenant in the navy he was assigned to his first arctic service in 1848, when Sir James Clark Ross went in search of the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin.
..... Click the link for more information. . Roald AmundsenAmundsen, Roald
(Roald Engelbregt Grauning Amundsen) , 1872–1928, Norwegian polar explorer; the first person to reach the South Pole. He served (1897–99) as first mate on the Belgica
..... Click the link for more information. wintered there in 1903–4 while on his way through the Northwest Passage.

Bibliography

See P. F. Cooper, Island of the Lost (1961).

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References in periodicals archive ?

Following their disappearance, a vessel chartered by Franklin's widow Lady Jane in 1859 came across a grim message on King William Island: Franklin and 23 crew members had died on June 11, 1847 in unspecified circumstances.

HMS Terror shipwreck offers up secrets of lost Arctic expedition

In 1846 he arrived off the north coast of King William Island by an unknown route.

Who Discovered the Northwest Passage?

Historians believe the ships were lost in 1848 after they became locked in the ice near King William Island and the crews abandoned them in a hopeless bid to reach safety.

Canada finds explorer's ship in Arctic; Franklin expedition most sought-after prizes in marine archaeology

A note found on King William Island in the Canadian Arctic detailed how their ships had become trapped in ice.

The search fro Franklin: the disappearance of the Franklin expedition to find the Northwest Passage was one of the most celebrated mysteries of the Victorian era. And despite a series of discoveries over the past 164 years, questions remain. Now, a Canadian team is searching for the final piece of the puzzle: the ships themselves

Dorothy Eber aims to understand the Franklin tragedy on and near King William Island from the point of view of Inuit oral history.

Dorothy Harley Eber. Encounters on the Passage: Inuit Meet the Explorers

His two ships, HMS Erebus and Terror, were trapped in the ice off King William Island in September 1846 and abandoned the following April as the crews tried to walk to safety.

Lead poisoning

After two more years of searching, McClintock's crew made a vital discovery on King William Island. They found a document left inside a cairn.

The tragic expedition of Sir John Franklin

For three weeks he and seven companions trekked the icy wastes of King William Island, in the Arctic, on a mission of discovery and endurance.

The ice man cometh

The team went from Sir John's initial landing - after his two ships were abandoned at Victory Point on King William Island - to Starvation Cove, where the last traces of some of his men were found.

Ralph retraces Arctic steps of tragic historic mission

Expedition leader Mark Davey, along with seven other British explorers, sets off yesterday from Victory Point, King William Island, to follow in the footsteps of Sir John Franklin who set off in 1845 to discover the elusive North West Passage

Passage to history: Polar explorers retracing steps of doomed Arctic expedition

In 1959 the mystery of what happened to Franklin and his men was finally solved when Captain Francis Leopold McClintock, from Co Louth, went down the passage and landed in King William island where Eskimos pointed him to the explorers' graves.

Go with the floe; IRISH EXPLORERS FOLLOW IN WAKE OF DOOMED HERO SAILOR FRANKLIN

The next winter they were locked in ice west of King William Island when their food ran out.