Thomas Abernethy Goes Whaling
1819
Thomas Abernethy becomes a Greenhand on the Hannibal, a whaling ship hunting bowhead whales around the east coast of Greenland.
EditLocation: Canada
The Parry Expedition
1819
James Ross Clark and Francis Crozier are both Lieutenants during Sir William Parry’s arctic expeditions.
EditLocation: Arctic
The Coppermine Expedition Leaves
May 23, 1819
The Coppermine Expedition sails from Gravesend under John Franklin. He has George Back with him for surveying and chart making, and John Richardson as their surgeon. They travel on board a Hudson’s Bay Company ship. As soon as they get to Canada the first of their supply problems materialised as neither the Hudson Bay Company, nor the Northwest Company, was able to provide any of the supplies that they had promised.
EditLocation: Britain
Franklin Arrives in Canada
Aug 30, 1819
Franklin and his expedition arrive at York Factory in Canada
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Goes to Fort Chipewyan
Jan 1820
Franklin sets out into the pine forests to Fort Chipewyan in order to hire men with experience of exploring Canada, as he had none. They had no tents and had to sleep on the ground covered in blankets. It was so cold that the mercury in their thermometers froze and they were even grateful for snowfall as the snow on their blankets would add extra insulation and make it less cold.
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Arrives At Fort Chipewyan
Mar 1820
Franklin arrives at Fort Chipewyan and tries to buy supplies and recruit voyageurs, only to find that there was little food and none of the better voyageurs wanted to go with him.
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Leaves Fort Chipewyan
Jul 1820
Franklin leaves Fort Chipewyan for the Great Slave Lake. It takes them 10 days to reach Old Fort Providence on its northern shore where they meet with Akaitcho the leader of the Yellowknives First Nation. Akaitcho agreed that some of the people from his nation would act as guides for the expedition and take them as far as the Inuit lands.
EditLocation: Canada
Mutiny
Jun 04, 1821
After a near mutiny during the winter when the expedition almost ran out of food, Franklin heads north again with a vague plan of trying to meet up with the Parry expedition that was trying to find the Northeast Passage by sea.
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Reaches the Arctic Sea
Jul 14, 1821
Franklin first sights the Arctic Sea. They meet their first Inuit camp a few days later and their Yellowknives guides leave for home as agreed. A quarter of the voyageurs go with them.
EditLocation: Arctic
Franklin Heads Home
Aug 22, 1821
Having mapped 500 miles of the Canadian coast Franklin decides to head for home, however they cannot go the way that they had come because rough weather had damaged their canoes too badly. This means that they had to use the Hood River route, which involved another trek across unknown territory.
EditLocation: Arctic
Winter Settles on the Coppermine Expedition
Sep 07, 1821
The Coppermine Expedition’s supplies were exhausted as winter settled in. They were forced to eat lichen, and even boil up their boots to eat the leather. The voyageurs became mutinous again, and the only that prevented them from simply walking away was that they did not know the way to get home.
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Reaches the Coppermine River
Sep 26, 1821
Franklin reaches the Coppermine river, but without their canoes they have no way to cross it.
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Crosses the Coppermine River
Oct 04, 1821
Franklin and his party manage to cross the Coppermine river using a makeshift one man canoe built by Pierre St Germain. He crosses first taking line with him that everybody else uses to haul themselves across in his canoe.
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Reaches Fort Enterpise
Oct 12, 1821
Franklin reaches Fort Enterpise, only to find that the supplies that he had expected had never been delivered. By this point the entire party was starving and on the point of giving up hope of every reaching home.
EditLocation: Canada
Richardson Suspects Terohaute of Murder
Oct 20, 1821
By now the expedition had split in two with Franklin in the slower party. Richardson and Hepburn were in the other party. As they were foraging, they heard a shot from the camp. They found Hood dead, and Terohaute standing with a gun in his hand. They suspected that he had already killed and eaten three other men from the party, but there was nothing that they could do at this point as he was stronger than they were and armed.
EditLocation: Canada
Richardson Shoots Terohaute
Oct 23, 1821
Terohaute goes to forage for lichen. Richardson took the opportunity to load his pistol, and on Terohaute's return, shot him dead.
EditLocation: Canada
Richardson Reaches Fort Enterpise
Oct 29, 1821
Richardson and Hepburn reach Fort Enterpise and found the men there barely able to move.
EditLocation: Canada
The Coppermine Expedition is Rescued
Nov 07, 1821
The Franklin expedition is rescued by the Yellowknives, one of the Canadian First Nations. Three men arrive with food, and then got more by fishing.
EditLocation: Canada
The Coppermine Expedition Returns to Britain
Oct 1822
The expedition returns to Britain. Despite his expedition being a complete failure Franklin is lauded as a hero for struggling in the face of such adversity.
EditLocation: Britain
Mackenzie River Expedition
Feb 16, 1825
Franklin, George Back, John Richardson and Edward Kendall leave Liverpool on the Mackenzie River Expedition, their second exploration expedition into the Arctic.
EditLocation: Liverpool
Mackenzie River Expedition Reaches Cumberland Hous
Jun 15, 1825
Mackenzie River Expedition reaches Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan River, and heads up to the Methye Portage.
EditLocation: Canada
Mackenzie River Expedition Reaches the Methye Port
Jun 29, 1825
Mackenzie River Expedition picks up their equipment at the Methye Portage. This had come by a different route to Franklin and his officers, having travelled from York Factory on the Hudson Bay up the Hayes River.
EditLocation: Canada
Mackenzie River
Aug 03, 1825
Mackenzie River Expedition reaches the headwaters of the Mackenzie River and begin to follow it down to the Arctic Ocean
EditLocation: Canada
Liard River
Aug 04, 1825
Mackenzie River Expedition reaches the point that the Mackenzie River joins the Liard River.
EditLocation: Canada
Fort Norman
Aug 07, 1825
Mackenzie River Expedition reaches Fort Norman
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Splits His Team
Aug 08, 1825
Franklin splits his team. He sends most of them to Great Bear Lake to set up their winter quarters, while he continues to the mouth of the Mackenzie with Edward Kendall in order to perform an initial exploration.
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Reaches the Mackenzie Delta
Aug 13, 1825
Franklin and Kendall reach the delta of the Mackenzie river. and begin to survey it, but have difficulty because frequent fog prevents them from using their sextant. They then travel back up the Mackenzie river to the fort, Fort Franklin, that the other party had build as their winter quarters on the Great Bear Lake.
EditLocation: Arctic
Franklin Reaches Fort Franklin
Sep 05, 1825
Franklin and Kendall join up with the rest of the Mackenzie river expedition at Fort Franklin. They all spend an uneventful winter there and gather a large number of fish as food for the winter.
EditLocation: Canada
Survey of the Great Bear Lake
Apr 10, 1826
Richardson and Kendall head out to survey the coastline of the Great Bear Lake
EditLocation: Canada
Great Bear Lake Survey Finished
May 01, 1826
Richardson and Kendall finish their survey of the Great Bear Lake and return to Fort Franklin and the rejoin the rest of the Mackenzie River Expedition.
EditLocation: Canada
Mackenzie River Expedition Heads for the Coast
May 23, 1826
The ice on the Great Bear Lake starts to break up and the Mackenzie River Expedition begins preparations to head back to the coast.
EditLocation: Canada
The Mackenzie River Expedition Heads to the Arctic
Jun 20, 1826
The Mackenzie River Expedition heads down the Mackenzie River to the Artic Ocean. Once they reach the mouth of the river they plan to split the expedition in two, with one team heading west and the other heading east in order to map the maximum amount of the coast before returning to Fort Franklin before the winter.
EditLocation: Arctic
The Mackenzie River Expedition Splits
Jul 04, 1826
The Mackenzie River Expedition reaches the coast and splits in two teams. Franklin and Back led one team heading west. Kendall and Richardson led the other team heading east.
EditLocation: Arctic
Richardson And Kendall Reach Open Water
Jul 07, 1826
Richardson and Kendall exit the Mackenzie delta and reach open water
EditLocation: Arctic
Franklin And Back Meet An Inuit Group
Jul 09, 1826
Franklin and Back meet an Inuit group. Franklin mentioned that they all appear in excellent health, although nearly all of them suffered from some degree of snowblindness.
EditLocation: Arctic
Franklin And Back Reach the Babbage River
Jul 15, 1826
Franklin and Back reach the Babbage River
EditLocation: Arctic
Franklin And Back Reach Herschel Island
Jul 17, 1826
Franklin and Back reach Herschel Island and meet some more Inuit
EditLocation: Arctic
Franklin And Back Reach Alaska
Jul 30, 1826
Franklin and Back reach what is now Alaska
EditLocation: Arctic
Richardson And Kendall the Coppermine River
Aug 08, 1826
Richardson and Kendall reaches the mouth of the Coppermine River. They travel up river to the Bloody Falls, but they do not think that they can get any further by boat.
EditLocation: Arctic
Richardson And Kendall Head for Great Bear Lake
Aug 10, 1826
Richardson and Kendall starts the overland trek back towards the Great Bear Lake.
EditLocation: Canada
Richardson And Kendall Reach the Dease River
Aug 15, 1826
Richardson and Kendall encounter a group of First Nations people who led them to the headwaters of Dease River
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Turns Back
Aug 16, 1826
Franklin and Back decide to turn back towards Fort Franklin as summer was coming to an end. They had not realised that at this point they were merely 6 days journey from another expedition that was travelling east from Alaska.
EditLocation: Arctic
Richardson And Kendall Reaches the Great Bear Lake
Aug 18, 1826
Richardson and Kendall reaches the Great Bear Lake
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Meets Inuit
Aug 29, 1826
Franklin and Back were told by a group of Inuit that they had seen Richardson’s party returning to the mouth of the Mackenzie River, and that there were hostile groups hunting for them that planned to steal all of their equipment.
EditLocation: Arctic
Richardson And Kendall Return to Fort Franklin
Sep 01, 1826
Richardson and Kendall return to Fort Franklin
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin And Back Reach Mackenzie
Sep 04, 1826
Franklin and Back reach the point that the two parties had split earlier that year.
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin And Back Return to Fort Franklin
Sep 21, 1826
Franklin and Back return to Fort Franklin. Franklin is worried that they do not have enough stores at Fort Franklin to make it through the winter, and so he despatches Kendall to Fort Norman in order to get more supplies.
EditLocation: Canada
Kendall Returns With Supplies
Oct 08, 1826
Kendall returns to Fort Franklin with supplies from Fort Norman
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Heads Home
Feb 20, 1827
Franklin decides to depart from Fort Franklin on a sledge before the ice breaks up. He takes all of the expedition's charts, journals, and drawings.
EditLocation: Canada
Franklin Arrives Back in Liverpool
Sep 27, 1827
Franklin arrives back in Liverpool
EditLocation: Liverpool
Mackenzie River Expedition Returns
Oct 1827
Back and the other officers of the Mackenzie River Expedition arrive back in Britain where Kendall is promoted to Lieutenant.
EditLocation: Britain
Sir John Ross Expedition to the Northwest Passage
May 23, 1829
Sir John Ross sets off on an expedition to find the Northwest passage on board HMS Victory. This is sailing ship with a 30 horse power steam engine driving a set of paddle wheels as an auxiliary power source.
He takes with him his nephew James Clark Ross. Thomas Abernethy signs on with the expedition and is appointed Second Mate. The expedition has 4 officers (Sir John Ross, James Clark Ross, William Thom and George McDiarmid) and 19 men, including Abernethy.
EditLocation: Britain
Into the Unknown
Aug 06, 1829
James Ross reaches the point that where he had been forced to turn back on the expedition that he had taken part in 10 years before.
EditLocation: Arctic
Sir John Ross Reaches Fury Beach
Aug 13, 1829
The John Ross expedition reaches Fury Beach where Parry had abandoned his ship. There was no sign of the ship itself, but there were still heaps of stores on the beach. They took some of these stores and continued north.
EditLocation: Arctic
James Ross Reaches Felix Harbour
Sep 1829
The James Ross expedition moors in Felix Harbour for to wait out the winter.
EditLocation: Arctic
The Netsilik Visit Sir James Ross
Jan 1830
They are visited by a group of Netsilik Inuit. The ship’s carpenter makes a wooden leg for one of them. The Inuit trade food and information.
EditLocation: Arctic
James Clark Ross Reaches Boothia
Apr 09, 1830
James Clark Ross reaches the west side of Boothia Peninsula as part of a number of trips over the ice that he had been making to chart the area.
EditLocation: Arctic
James Clark Ross Returns
Jun 13, 1831
James Clark Ross, Abernethy, and the rest of the party return to HMS Victory. After a month on the ice they are said to look like human skeletons.
EditLocation: Arctic
James Ross Reaches the Magnetic North Pole
Jul 01, 1831
A party from HMS Victory including Abernethy and James Ross reach the magnetic north Pole.
EditLocation: Arctic
HMS Victory Gets Free of the Ice
Aug 1831
HMS Victory gets free of the ice, but is only able to move 4 miles before getting trapped again at Victoria Harbour.
EditLocation: Arctic
HMS Victory Trapped in Ice
Jan 1832
Sir James Ross decide that HMS Victory is not going to get free and they will need another plan.
EditLocation: Arctic
James Clark Ross Departs HMS Victory
May 29, 1832
James Clark Ross departs HMS Victory with Abernethy over the ice to try and get to Fury Beach in order to find out if the boats and supplies that they had seen on their way out were still there.
EditLocation: Arctic
James Clark Ross Returns to HMS Victory
Jun 08, 1832
James Clark Ross returns from Fury Beach and lets the rest of the expedition know that the boats are still there and repairable.
EditLocation: Arctic
HMS Victory Crew Reaches Fury Beach
Jul 01, 1832
The entire party from HMS Victory reaches Fury beach. They construct a shelter from the remaining timbers of Fury and then start repairing the boats there.
EditLocation: Arctic
The Expedition Sets Off in Boats
Aug 01, 1832
The expedition sets off in boats in the hope of finding a whaler that will take them back to Britain.
EditLocation: Arctic
George Back Leaves Britain
Feb 01, 1833
George Back leaves Britain in order to try and find the John Ross expedition as nothing had been heard from it since it left in 1829.
EditLocation: Canada
The Expedition Leaves Batty Bay
Jul 08, 1833
The expedition leaves Batty Bay
EditLocation: Arctic
The Expedition Finally Reaches Open Water
Aug 14, 1833
The expedition finally reaches open water
EditLocation: Arctic
Jame Ross is Picked Up By Isabella
Aug 26, 1833
The expedition is picked up by Isabella, the ship that John Ross had commanded on his 1819 expedition.
EditLocation: Arctic
The John Ross Expedition Returns to Britain
Oct 1833
The John Ross expedition returns to Britain
EditLocation: Britain
Back Receives a Letter About John Ross
Mar 1834
George Back receives a package of letters that tell him that the John Ross expedition which he had been looking for was now safely back in Britain. These letters also contain orders that his mission has changed and he is to explore the coast from the area that Ross had mapped at King William Island to the area that he himself had mapped with Franklin on the Coppermine River expedition.
EditLocation: Canada
George Back Sets Out on His Exploration Mission
Jun 07, 1834
George Back sets out on his exploration mission
EditLocation: Canada
George Back Reaches Chantrey Inlet
Jul 23, 1834
George Back reaches salt water at the Chantrey Inlet. They explore the area and see King William Island but decide that going any further would be too great a risk and therefore turn back.
EditLocation: Arctic
George Back Reaches Back River
Jul 28, 1834
George Back reaches Back River, known to the local Inuit people as the Great Fish River.
EditLocation: Canada
George Back Reaches Fort Reliance
Sep 27, 1834
George Back reaches Fort Reliance
EditLocation: Canada