Madam, – Brian Walker wrote an interesting piece on his ancestor’s contribution to Arctic exploration (“An Irishman’s Diary”, December 31st).
It is important to point out that the remains of Sir John Franklin and his crew were never found. Sir John, his two ships, Erebusand Terror, vanished in the ice with a combined crew of 129 men, and were never seen alive again.
Some years later, Leopold McClintock’s (he was from Dundalk) expedition did discover the graves and the remains of three of the crew. Apart from a short note signed by his second in command, Francis Crozier (from Banbridge, Co Down), no records were found to explain the chain of events that led to the loss of the entire expedition. Sir John Franklin’s remains were not among the three that were found. – Yours, etc,