A wonderful new addition to the John Franklin and the Franklin search exhibition has just opened at the Fram Museum. President and CEO of Parks Canada Ron Hallman handed over an exact replica of the bell of HMS Erebus to Geir O. Kløver, the Director of the Fram Museum, in a ceremony in our Gjøa Building last Thursday. While the original bell is at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, 12 high quality copies were made and given to organizations important to the search of Franklin’s ships. The Fram Museum was given the last copy in honor of the permanent exhibitions on the exploration of the Northwest Passage and for keeping these legacies alive.
The bell is exhibited with original letters from participants on John Franklin’s expeditions and key expedition leaders in the search for the Northwest Passage and the Franklin search. These includes John and Jane Franklin, Francis Crozier, William Edward Parry, James Clark Ross, John Rae, John Richardson, George Back and Francis Leopold McClintock. A document signed by Franklin, Parry, Back and Fredrick William Beechey on 28 April 1845 when HMS Erebus was officially handed over to John Franklin from Woolwich Dockyard is also exhibited with a Polar Medal and the rare Admiralty map of the Northwest Passage.
We are grateful to Parks Canada for the wonderful gift and look forward to further cooperation in the future!
Royal Canadian Geographical Society
