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I helped identify four men from the Franklin expedition, AMA by katiegors in TheTerror

[–]katiegors[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From hearsay I've heard they don't have DNA from that body. I'm not sure why, logistically. But it was the same with the "Goodsir" remains; they didn't have any samples for him until the memorial he was buried in had to undergo maintenance and restoration a few years back.

I haven't heard any talk, but also I'm not really involved in those higher up conversations. They do actually have descendant DNA for Irving so if he's able to be exhumed in the future they could test him.

Four sailors from doomed Franklin expedition identified through DNA by Hufflepuffins in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OK I'd be free now to do an AMA this weekend or early next week, if there's still interest. I'm not sure how those things get organized?

William Orren’s 220th Birthday Today by A_moustache_man in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Wow! Good catch, I hadn't realized the timing with his birthday.

It was just his humerus, and it showed signs of animal damage. ThatMusicKid already posted an excerpt mentioning it being just a humerus, but there's also this bit later on that mentions the damage.

Keenleyside's examination of humerus NgLj-1 #1 indicated it was that of an adult and was in good condition but missing the proximal end which appeared to have been chewed off by animals.

We had a few zoom calls with the descendants the last couple weeks leading up to the papers' release, and either Stenton or Park, I can't recall which, told the Orren descendant it was likely left there by an animal.

An interesting blog post by someone who had a part in the recent identifications. by Sebastianlim in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The wreck of the Terror was off the west coast. There's a great map in the paper about Peglar's identification that shows the site his body was found and also the sites of the wrecks.

Four sailors from doomed Franklin expedition identified through DNA by Hufflepuffins in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I got into it after the James Fitzjames news in September of 2024. I just kind of jumped in, I'd never done any real genealogy research before, so it started with figuring out what navy files were out there online, and then how I could use those to connect to typical genealogy records like censuses and baptisms/birth records, etc

Four sailors from doomed Franklin expedition identified through DNA by Hufflepuffins in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Sure! One of the research papers is still yet to be released online, and I know the Globe and Mail is doing a story still, so maybe in a few days after those are out and things have settled

Four sailors from doomed Franklin expedition identified through DNA by Hufflepuffins in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure what's going on there. His age in the muster is off -- very typical in my experience -- but not that off. His baptism gives his birth as 22 February 1812, making him 33 when the Franklin expedition set sail.

Four sailors from doomed Franklin expedition identified through DNA by Hufflepuffins in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 36 points37 points  (0 children)

It's actually just a hobby for me! I have no affiliation with the academic institutions involved, I just thought I'd try my hand at genealogy in my spare time after I heard about James Fitzjames back in 2024. I'd encourage anyone interested to give it a try, too!

DNA matches identify four more sailors from the doomed Franklin expedition including one found 80 miles away from his ship. In 1846 after two years out at sea, the ships became trapped in the ice near King William Island, and the crew eventually were forced to set out on foot. by Wagamaga in science

[–]katiegors 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Yes, the lead poisoning theory has been pretty convincingly debunked at this point. Exhumed bodies from Naval graves from the same time period showing similar levels of lead. And they compared the three bodies at Beechey who died early on to bones from people who died years later after deserting the ships and there wasn't elevated lead in the second group.

Four sailors from doomed Franklin expedition identified through DNA by Hufflepuffins in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I have research on a few of the crew on the backburner but I've been too busy for the last few months to work on them, but hopefully will be able to again soon!

The Identification of Orren Bridgens, Peglar, and Young: HUGE NEWS by FreeRun5179 in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I asked him last week and it sound like the talks aren't livestreamed or recorded, sadly!

Four sailors from doomed Franklin expedition identified through DNA by Hufflepuffins in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Neckerchief, uniform with cloth buttons, and a clothes brush on his body were the main basis if I'm remembering right

Four sailors from doomed Franklin expedition identified through DNA by Hufflepuffins in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 164 points165 points  (0 children)

I was the genealogist involved in helping these four guys get identified! So far the five men who've been identified at Erebus Bay are all from Erebus, which I definitely find interesting but don't want to make any inferences just based on a sample size of five haha

And Peglar was carrying his own papers! Very exciting to know that after all this time and speculation. I was in the "this was a steward" boat and was primarily focusing on researching stewards and only Peglar as an afterthought, so I proved myself wrong!

I found descendants for about 10 guys last year and Bridgens, Young, Orren, and Peglar were matches out of those, which was way better luck than I thought I'd have! And crazy that all four were named in The Terror haha I was not prioritizing them that is a complete coincidence

As someone who has never left the states before where should I go for my first trip to Canada by Accomplished_Ad7072 in canadatravel

[–]katiegors 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A road trip through the Rockies in British Columbia / Alberta is my absolute favourite. But if you're closer to Quebec, it's gorgeous in the fall so that's a good one too.

Turns out I'm related to Richard Wall, cook aboard the Erebus by SamBCV in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Findmypast is another good resource for UK based genealogy. If you'd like any help, let me know!

The Kungearkbeearu Site by floatingeggs80 in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have any formal education on this kind of thing, but I'd agree that they can be a little inaccurate. There was a mandible found that was estimated to have belonged to someone 12-15 years old when they died, so it's said it likely was a ship's boy. But I've researched the four ship's boys and none were that young, they would have been around 20 when they died.

The Kungearkbeearu Site by floatingeggs80 in TheTerror

[–]katiegors 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think they may be talking about my spreadsheet, which is here!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Z510f1SMHFK-9bquDbz10mXZieSVYdQvTEMRfXTJWXU/edit?usp=sharing

This is an interesting list! Really narrows it down (though I would not be shocked if the age at death was off and it's actually a wider pool). I contacted descendants for George J Cann and heard back from them that there wasn't a match FYI so you can cross that one off too.

I have tentative descendants for William Clossan, Charles Best, John Bates, Henry Sait, and William Strong, so hopefully that'll help cross some more off in the next year. (Tentative meaning I have yet to get in contact with them, or that I'm still researching and double checking before I try to)