Trinity House book launch

I simply couldn't have been more delighted by the launch party for 'James Fitzjames: The Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition' yesterday evening at Trinity House.

It's a wonderful venue and I was so pleased that so many people could come.

As well as family and friends, it was a deeply moving experience to meet so many people who are related to the people in James Fitzjames' life, including descendants or relatives of Francis Crozier, Graham Gore, Joseph Geater, Robert and William Coningham and Sir Leopold McClintock.

Many thanks to Trinity House and Mint catering for looking after us all.

The book has been published...

Well, I am absolutely delighted to say that my book, 'James Fitzjames: The Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition' has been published.

I am so grateful to Simon Hamlet, my publisher at The History Press for taking the book on. Not every publisher was willing to entertain a book by someone who had never written before. Thanks Simon! And Abbie Wood, who designed the book and has also done a great job.

It is also great news that Dundurn in Canada has taken the book on as that gives it great coverage on the left hand side of the pond.

I'm going to be fascinated by the response to it. I still feel reluctant to discuss the outcomes of my research publicly, which is rather a strange reacon given that the book describes them in great detail and is available for the world to buy. But I do feel deeply, deeply privileged that I was the person who was able to get close to this fascinating, but ultimately cursed, young man James Fitzjames. For the truth was that he was anything but the privileged young aristocrat of Franklin Expedition mythology. Heavens, he wasn't even genuinely English! He struggled and fought for the position he craved in the Royal Navy, and it is very unfair that ever after he has been held up as someone who didn't need to. And far from being the favourite of Sir John Barrow, the relationship with Barrow was much stranger than anyone ever realised.

I hope that the book has two results. The first is that I trust that people can start to look again at 'The Men who Sailed with Franklin' as men, and not as stereotypes. Just as the baddie of the story, Charles Dickens, ridiculously traduced the Inuit families who met the Franklin survivors, and even tried to help them, as 'savages', I think it is no longer fair to look at Franklin's men as stereotypical imperialists either. I believe when we analyse them we find that many were men much closer to the margins of their society than popular myth would allow. Men like Fitzjames and Gore, for example, had very peripatetic backgrounds. The second result, I hope, is that the tragedy of James Fitzjames will be recognised as a sad human story in its own right. How cruelly ironic that just as he had won the position in English society that his shameful origins had earlier denied him, and as soon as he had gained a really powerful source of patronage, he should use that to participate in the greatest disaster in British exploration history! I am sure this was an irony NOT lost on him in his last months.

Anyway, I'll be fascinated to hear your feedback to the book, which you can buy at

http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/James-Fitzjames-the-Mystery-Man-of-the-Franklin-Expedition.aspx

Let me know what you think.

Incidentally I've set up a website

http://www.jamesfitzjames.net/

Which I'll be using specifically to support the book. I'll locate here any additional references which people want. Perhaps there are other things we can do.

Anyway people, over to you know - let me know what you think....

Lt. Irving memorial

Yesterday I was able to visit the Edinburgh tomb of Lt. John Irving, RN, of the Franklin Expedition. As many people will be aware this tomb contains the remains of an officer of the Franklin Expedition buried on King William Island, which were discovered by Lt. Schwatka. On the basis of a medal found associated with the grave, the remains were identified as those of Lt Irving.

Were they really Irving's bones? Who knows, but it was a privilege for me to see this beautiful Celtic cross in the immaculately maintained Dean's Cemetery in Edinburgh.

I was struck not only by the dignity of the monument and its setting, but also by the aptness of its carving. Right down the shaft of the cross, it bears the following inscription:

In memory of Lt. John Irving, RN. HM Ship Terror. Born 1815. Died in King William's Land 1848-9. Her Majesty's Ships Erebus and Terror left England in May 1845 under command of Sir John Franklin KCB to explore a North West Passage to the Pacific. [Note the 'a', not 'the'] After wintering 1845-6 at Beechey Island they sailed south down Franklin's Strait and entered the NW Passage. Having been there beset with ice for two years Sir J Franklin and 8 other officers and 15 seamen having died the survivors 105 in number Lt. Irving being one landed on King William's Land and attempted to march to Canada but all died from cold and want of food. In 1879 Lt. Schwatka of the American searching expedition discovered Lt. Irving's grave. Through his kindness the remains of this brave and good officer were brought away and were deposited here on 7th January, 1881."

Below it is the quotation from the Bible - Romans 8:35 - "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" St. Paul went on to write: "Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?". The answer presumably was - no. In turn below that is the the famous wording from Horace, Odes III, 2, 13, which chillingly was used by Wilfred Owen for the title of of one of his most moving poems "Decorum est pro patria mori" - it is right to die for one's country. One wonders whether Owen was aware of this use of the quotation when he chose it as the title of his poem. And finally, there is an attractive bas relief showing the imaginary scene of the burial of Irving on King William Island. In the background can be seen the two ships Erebus and Terror. This does look rather similar to the bas relief on the Franklin Memorial in Waterloo Place, London, except without the more absurd fantasies of that one - no mountainous icebergs. And on Irving's tomb the mourners are shown holding nothing more unorthodox than a spade. Of course in reality I am not sure how much use a spade would have been for a gravedigger on King William Island - but at least the mourning sailors are not clutching bows and arrows as they appear to be in Waterloo Place! The bas relief is till in very good condition.

Of course when I spent my time before this cross I had two very different emotions. The historian in me mourned the loss of the young man buried below, and appreciated the quiet dignity of the tomb erected over him. But the archaeologist in me started to obsess about the potential for forensic evidence that was below my feet. Should we try to disinter these remains and see whether modern forensic research could find out more about this man and his unhappy death? Who knows?

James Fitzjames book launch date

I'm very pleased to be able to say that my book 'James Fitzjames: the Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition' will be launched with a Reception and Lecture to be held at Trinity House in the City of London from 6:00 pm to 9:30 on Tuesday 27th July, 2010.

The book is the first ever biography of James Fitzjames. On and off, I have spent a lot of time over the last two years reading, thinking, talking and writing about James Fitzjames and I feel I have got to know him quite well. He was a remarkable man with a rare combination of charm and intelligence and I hope the book is an appropriate memorial to him. As well as that, I hope that some readers at least find the account of his life and adventures exciting. And also, the book contains two significant exclusives. The first of these is who he was - his origins and family has always been unclear - and the second is the source of his influence. Neither of these have ever been known before and their revelation will cast significant new light on the Franklin Expedition.

Trinity House is a wonderful setting for this Reception and Lecture. One of the artefacts on display there is the sextant Admiral (then Captain) Collinson used during his search for Franklin (and Fitzjames of course). Collinson knew Fitzjames as they had both fought in the First Anglo-Chinese War.

I truly hope that this Reception is a worthy memorial to a brave man. If you would like to attend please let me know by contacting me through blogger or Facebook, where James Fitzjames has his own page.

An Excellent set of Daguerreotype images

I was very impressed with this set of images of the famous Franklin Expedition Daguerreotypes on the Scott Polar Research Institute's website:

http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/library/pictures/catalogue/bnnpe1845-48/gallery/

The images of Couch and Stanley are especially interesting as they are of much better definition than most of the reproductions of their Daguerreotypes in circulation.

Raising Ghosts

When I started researching the life of James Fitzjames one of the things I always found odd was that he had no known date or place of death and no known date and place of birth. The earliest acknowledged date associated with him is his baptism on 27th February, 1815. That was the day, one hundred and ninety five years to the day yesterday, when 'James Fitzjames, gentleman' and 'Anne his wife' baptised their baby James at the Church of St. Mary-le-Bone in London.

Last year I spent a long time at the London Metropolitan Archive trying to track down any evidence relating to these parents. Like every other researcher into Fitzjames I could find nothing more about them. But from completely different lines of research, I now know the truth about Captain James Fitzjames, RN. I now know who he REALLY was, who his true family were and where he was born. Release of all of this information - and more - will have to wait until 'James Fitzjames, the Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition' is published in July.

Yesterday being the 195th anniversary of this baptism, I made a little private pilgrimage to the grave of James Fitzjames' true father. I made the same journey to this grave that Fitzjames himself must have made in those brief months he had in England between returning with HMS Clio in late 1844 and departing on the Franklin Expedition on HMS Erebus in 1845. He had never been able to acknowledge his father, so sharing this secret and this journey with his memory made for a slight, strange bond between author and subject. I wondered what he must have thought and felt, and whether his shoes got as wet as mine on the ill-drained soil.

After paying my respects at this place, the closest thing Fitzjames has to a grave, I made my way, deep in thought, to the Church of St. Mary-le-Bone. Here this man, whose grave I had just visited and who called himself 'James Fitzjames, gentleman' had baptised his little child one hundred and ninety five years ago to the day. Round the corner, having eaten a beautiful roast pork sandwich from a Hogroast in the Churchyard (recommended, www.hog-father.com), I made my way to the Prince Regent pub. There I drank a private toast to the memory of Captain James Fitzjames, RN with a pint of excellent, and appropriately named, Adnam's Broadside ale.

I cannot help feeling that if ghosts exist I must have disturbed, if not raised, a few who must have felt that no mortal would ever stick his nose into their affairs again.

Forthcoming paper on HMS Erebus and HMS Terror

Blogging has been a little quiet lately but interesting research into the Franklin Expedition continues in the UK, Canada and elsewhere.

I'm looking forward to reading the forthcoming paper which Peter Carney and I have co-authored on the technology incorporated into HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in 1845 to the Newcomen Society on Wednesday, 10th February, 2010. The reading will take place at the Fellows' Room at the Science Museum in London. Full details are on the Newcomen Society website:

http://www.newcomen.com/meetings.htm

As the Newcomen Society is the world's oldest learned society devoted to the study of the history of engineering and technology, founded in 1920, Peter and I feel very privileged to be able to do that.

What's in the paper? Well, that would be telling, but Peter and I have synthesised very carefully what is known about the ships currently and hope that will be useful for other researchers. We have also come up with one or two surprises, too. As always the two lessons are the critcal importance of primary sources, and the value of open collaboration. Whatever merits the paper may have derive very largely from the process of our two minds looking at the same material with different perspectives, and then debating its meaning until we arrive at a better understanding. We have also found (as if we didn't know already...) that secondary sources cannot be relied upon even for quite basic 'facts' about the Franklin Expedition - always go to the source!

If you are in London and would like to come to the reading, check out the Newcomen Society website and Peter and I will be most glad to meet you then. And if you live in the far North (of England that is, not Nunavut), then the paper will also be read at the wonderful Manchester Museum of Science & Industry in Liverpool Road on 30th March, courtesy of the Newcomen Society.