“Memorial to Sir John Franklin,” Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, by Richard Westmacott, Jr.

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Sir John Franklin Memorial

Richard Westmacott, Jr (1799-1872)

Marble

c.8' high x 10' wide

Vestibule of the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, Greenwich, London SE10

The inscription on the plinth under the list of the expedition members reads:

BENEATH LIE THE REMAINS / OF ONE OF FRANKLIN'S COMPANIONS / WHO PERISHED IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS / 1848 / DISCOVERED AND BROUGHT AWAY FROM / KING WILLIAM'S LAND” by CAPTAIN HALL / THE UNITED STATES ARCTIC EXPLORER / 1869.

Photographs, captions, and Commentary below by Jacqueline Banerjee, with many thanks to the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, for permission to reproduce the pictures. [Click on all images for larger pictures.]

Jane Franklin, Sir John's widow, was disappointed in this memorial: it "fell far short of the heroic image that [she ] required" (Lambert 289), and was besides hidden from view in an in an alcove” by the stairs of the Painted Hall. Yet others appreciated it: "There is a good deal of originality in the conception of this work," wrote one contemporary commentator in the Art-Journal ("Monumental Commemorations").

Left: On the left, a fresh-looking expedition member studies a chart, with ships' masts and sails rising behind him: all is ready for the great adventure. Right: A dispirited figure slumps on the right, wearing snow gear, his equipment resting too beside him, and tall shelves of ice towering in the background.

As the Art-Journal commentator pointed out, the ships' masts are equalled in height” by the icebergs on the other side, indicating the "hopeless wildness" that the expedition has penetrated. In this way, the story of the ill-fated expedition is shown from beginning to end, with the figure on the left preparing for the expedition, and the one on the right dragged down” by its unendurable rigours: "of the long dark years that lie between these two figures, when shall the story be told?" (37-38).

The story of the human remains buried here is another mystery. The monument and the remains have been moved, first from beside the stairs of the Painted Hall under the dome opposite, then again from there to behind the altar of the College Chapel (see The Old Royal Naval College"), and finally to this spot only in 2009. Further investigations have suggested that the remains might actually belong to the team's assistant surgeon and naturalist, Harry Goodsir (see Parry, and, for details of both "candidates," see "Maritime Memorials"). Probably, even with the advances in DNA identification, we shall never know for sure whose bones are buried here. But at least, as Andrew Lambert says, the monument that so strikingly conveys the tragedy is now itself in full "public view" (290).

Related Material

Bibliography

Lambert, Andrew D. The Gates of Hell: Sir John Franklin's Tragic Quest for the North-West Passage. New Haven, Yale University Press, 2009. Print.

"Maritime Memorials".National Maritime Museum. Web. 17 May 2012.

"Monumental Commemorations.". Art-Journal, Vol. 5, 11: 37-38.

Parry, Wynne. "New Identity for Arctic Explorer Emerges 140 Years Later." LiveScience. Web. 17 May 2012.

Last modified 28 May 2015