| Beechey Island |
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Information AboutBeechey Island |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BEECHEY ISLAND | |
| national historic sites of canada | |
| queen elizabeth islands | |
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The island was discovered in 1819 by Captain William Edward Parry and was named for Frederick William Beechey (1796-1856) who was then serving as Parry's Lieutenant . It is the site of several very significant events in the history of Arctic exploration. In 1845, the British explorer Sir John Franklin , commanding a new search for the Northwest Passage aboard HMSs Erebus and Terror , chose the protected harbor of Beechey Island for his first winter encampment. The site was not discovered until 1851 when British and American search vessels anchored nearby. They found a large stone cairn, along with the graves of three of Franklin's crew -- John Torrington , William Braine , and John Hartnell -- but no written record or indication of where Franklin planned to sail the next season. In the 1980's, Canadian Archaeologist Owen Beattie exhumed the three bodies, finding them --externally at least -- to be remarkably well-preserved. Autopsies determined that lung disease and high levels of lead were among the probable causes of death; the lead appeared to come from the thousands of lead-soldered tins of beef and soup with which the Franklin expedition had been supplied. Beechey Island was declared to be a "site of territorial historical significance" by the government of the Northwest Territories in 1979. Since 1999 it has been part of the newly-created Canadian territory of Nunavut . |
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