DNA used to ID sailor from doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition with living relative
Logan Turner
When Sir John Franklin, two ships and some 130 sailors left a British port in 1845, they hoped to successfully navigate the fabled Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic and into the Pacific Ocean.
Last spotted in Baffin Bay later that year, the ships disappeared and every crew member perished. The expedition reportedly resulted in the greatest loss of life event in the history of polar exploration, and left more questions than answers about what happened.
But 176 years later, a DNA match has identified the skeletal remains of a sailor aboard HMS Erebus as Warrant Officer John Gregory, the first time genetics have been used to name any of the officers and crew.
In a study recently published in the Polar Record journal, scientists said the discovery provides clues about the final movements of the Franklin expeditioners.
"We now know that John Gregory was one of three expedition personnel who died at this particular site, located at Erebus Bay on the southwest shore of King William Island," said Douglas Stenton, an adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Waterloo in Ontario and co-author of the study.
© Supplied by Robert W. Park Douglas Stenton, an adjunct professor of anthropology at Ontario's University of Waterloo, works to excavate the remains of an unidentified crew member of the 1845 Franklin Expedition through the Northwest Passage. Gregory's remains were found in the same area.
Since the mid-19th century, the skeletal remains of dozens of crew members had been found on King William Island, but none had been positively identified.
"The identification proves that Gregory survived three years locked in the ice on board HMS Erebus. But he perished 75 kilometres south," added archeology anthropology professor Robert Park, co-author of the paper who's also at the University of Waterloo.
The remains of Gregory and two others were first discovered in 1859 and buried in 1879, before being rediscovered in 1993 and excavated two decades later to extract DNA samples. To date, the DNA of 27 members of the Franklin Expedition have been extracted, yielding important information about their estimated health, stature and age at death, according to a news release.
Stephen Fratpietro, the self-described DNA guy with Paleo-DNA lab at Thunder Bay's Lakehead University and another author of the study, was present when the DNA matched with a sample from one of Gregory's living relatives.
"I had to double check my results because up to that point, I think we tested 16 or 17 individuals and we hadn't had any matches at all," said Fratpietro.
Since 2013, Fratpietro and his team have been working with remains of crew on the Franklin Expedition to develop a database of different DNA profiles. Meanwhile, a genealogy team has been trying to "scout out possible living descendants" of the original expeditioners, and ask them to donate DNA to help identify other remains.
In this case, the living descendant was John's great-great-great grandson, Jonathan Gregory, of Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
"Having John Gregory's remains being the first to be identified via genetic analysis is an incredible day for our family, as well as all those interested in the ill-fated Franklin expedition," Jonathan said in a release.
Fratpietro said this discovery gives the research team hope they'll identify the remains of the 26 others, and help answer the questions shrouding the centuries-old mystery.
"We want to know what happened, what killed them, how they moved, why were some remains found in this part of the Arctic … just basically, what happened in those years where they were all stuck in the
Since the mid-19th century, the skeletal remains of dozens of crew members had been found on King William Island, but none had been positively identified.
"The identification proves that Gregory survived three years locked in the ice on board HMS Erebus. But he perished 75 kilometres south," added archeology anthropology professor Robert Park, co-author of the paper who's also at the University of Waterloo.
The remains of Gregory and two others were first discovered in 1859 and buried in 1879, before being rediscovered in 1993 and excavated two decades later to extract DNA samples. To date, the DNA of 27 members of the Franklin Expedition have been extracted, yielding important information about their estimated health, stature and age at death, according to a news release.
Stephen Fratpietro, the self-described DNA guy with Paleo-DNA lab at Thunder Bay's Lakehead University and another author of the study, was present when the DNA matched with a sample from one of Gregory's living relatives.
"I had to double check my results because up to that point, I think we tested 16 or 17 individuals and we hadn't had any matches at all," said Fratpietro.
Since 2013, Fratpietro and his team have been working with remains of crew on the Franklin Expedition to develop a database of different DNA profiles. Meanwhile, a genealogy team has been trying to "scout out possible living descendants" of the original expeditioners, and ask them to donate DNA to help identify other remains.
In this case, the living descendant was John's great-great-great grandson, Jonathan Gregory, of Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
"Having John Gregory's remains being the first to be identified via genetic analysis is an incredible day for our family, as well as all those interested in the ill-fated Franklin expedition," Jonathan said in a release.
Fratpietro said this discovery gives the research team hope they'll identify the remains of the 26 others, and help answer the questions shrouding the centuries-old mystery.
"We want to know what happened, what killed them, how they moved, why were some remains found in this part of the Arctic … just basically, what happened in those years where they were all stuck in the
© Provided by The Canadian Press
Canadian archeologists have used DNA analysis to identify the remains of a Franklin expedition sailor and to link him with his modern-day descendants.
"The news came by email and I was at work," said Jonathan Gregory of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the great-great-great-grandson of John Gregory, whose remains were found on King William Island in Nunavut.
"I literally needed to hold on to my seat when I was reading."
It's the first time genetics have been used to identify any of the 129 officers and crew on the expedition, which was lost in the Arctic in 1848 while searching for the Northwest Passage. The men's fate has given rise to one of the North's most enduring mysteries, now slightly less so.
"The real story lies in learning as much as we can about the men who perished on this expedition. This was an opportunity to do that," said Doug Stenton, a University of Waterloo archeologist who co-led the research.
Capt. John Franklin led an expedition out from England in 1845 to look for a sea lane to Asia over the top of North America. HMS Erebus, its sister ship HMS Terror and the officers and seamen aboard both never returned.
More than 30 expeditions tried to find them. A few artifacts, graves and horrible tales of cannibalism were all that was uncovered.
Three sailors were found in marked graves on Beechey Island and another three men were tentatively named through artifacts buried with them. Through a blend of Inuit oral history and high-tech surveys, the Erebus was found in 2014 and the Terror two years later.
But remains found at three sites on King William Island — about 100 kilometres from the ships — were never identified.
The 23 sailors died after having spent three years frozen in sea ice. They abandoned their ships and hauled Royal Navy lifeboats across the tundra on sledges in an attempt to escape.
In 2013, Stenton investigated one of the sites — an isolated cairn atop the partial skeletons of three men.
"I paused and just stopped and looked around and imagined," recalled Stenton, whose research is published in the journal Polar Record.
"These men were hauling heavily laden sledges with boats. Snow blindness, frozen fingertips ... It's pretty daunting trying to visualize what it was like."
Stenton and his colleagues have analyzed DNA from 27 of Franklin's crew.
That DNA was mentioned in a museum show after the excavation of the two ships. A sign posted in that show asked visitors with family links to the expedition to get in touch.
The Gregory family has long known about its Franklin connection.
"We've got lots of memorabilia," said Gregory, 38. "It was something we always knew of."
So when a relative of his in British Columbia heard about the request and passed it along, Gregory reached out. Once it seemed possible that there was a direct paternal connection, researchers sent him a DNA testing kit.
Eventually, the results came in. Gregory, who manages a retail outlet in Port Elizabeth, still remembers the shock of reading the message.
"'We are pleased to inform you it was a positive match,' (it said)."
"It was an incredible day for me and my family."
John Gregory wasn't even a sailor. Contemporary records show he was an engineer at the firm that made the steam engines in Franklin's ships. He went along to mind them as a newly minted warrant officer.
There are no pictures of John Gregory. The research team has constructed a bust of what he may have looked like.
"I definitely think it had a resemblance to my grandfather," said Gregory. "My mom is still alive and she's extremely proud."
John Gregory's remains were returned to the site in 2014 and placed in a new cairn.
His great-great-great-grandson said there's just one more thing he'd like to do — stand on the lonely, remote spot where his namesake ancestor suffered and died.
"I think that would be quite eerie," he said. "But I like to believe that closure would be a good word, that we've joined the dots."
More dots could be joined, Stenton said.
"We're always working on this. We're very interested in anyone else who is a descendant."
John Gregory himself was last heard from in a letter to his wife Hannah and their five children dated July 9, 1845, posted from Greenland. It closes:
"Give my kind Love to Edward, Fanny, James, William, and kiss baby for me — and accept the same yourself."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2021.
Canadian archeologists have used DNA analysis to identify the remains of a Franklin expedition sailor and to link him with his modern-day descendants.
"The news came by email and I was at work," said Jonathan Gregory of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the great-great-great-grandson of John Gregory, whose remains were found on King William Island in Nunavut.
"I literally needed to hold on to my seat when I was reading."
It's the first time genetics have been used to identify any of the 129 officers and crew on the expedition, which was lost in the Arctic in 1848 while searching for the Northwest Passage. The men's fate has given rise to one of the North's most enduring mysteries, now slightly less so.
"The real story lies in learning as much as we can about the men who perished on this expedition. This was an opportunity to do that," said Doug Stenton, a University of Waterloo archeologist who co-led the research.
Capt. John Franklin led an expedition out from England in 1845 to look for a sea lane to Asia over the top of North America. HMS Erebus, its sister ship HMS Terror and the officers and seamen aboard both never returned.
More than 30 expeditions tried to find them. A few artifacts, graves and horrible tales of cannibalism were all that was uncovered.
Three sailors were found in marked graves on Beechey Island and another three men were tentatively named through artifacts buried with them. Through a blend of Inuit oral history and high-tech surveys, the Erebus was found in 2014 and the Terror two years later.
But remains found at three sites on King William Island — about 100 kilometres from the ships — were never identified.
The 23 sailors died after having spent three years frozen in sea ice. They abandoned their ships and hauled Royal Navy lifeboats across the tundra on sledges in an attempt to escape.
In 2013, Stenton investigated one of the sites — an isolated cairn atop the partial skeletons of three men.
"I paused and just stopped and looked around and imagined," recalled Stenton, whose research is published in the journal Polar Record.
"These men were hauling heavily laden sledges with boats. Snow blindness, frozen fingertips ... It's pretty daunting trying to visualize what it was like."
Stenton and his colleagues have analyzed DNA from 27 of Franklin's crew.
That DNA was mentioned in a museum show after the excavation of the two ships. A sign posted in that show asked visitors with family links to the expedition to get in touch.
The Gregory family has long known about its Franklin connection.
"We've got lots of memorabilia," said Gregory, 38. "It was something we always knew of."
So when a relative of his in British Columbia heard about the request and passed it along, Gregory reached out. Once it seemed possible that there was a direct paternal connection, researchers sent him a DNA testing kit.
Eventually, the results came in. Gregory, who manages a retail outlet in Port Elizabeth, still remembers the shock of reading the message.
"'We are pleased to inform you it was a positive match,' (it said)."
"It was an incredible day for me and my family."
John Gregory wasn't even a sailor. Contemporary records show he was an engineer at the firm that made the steam engines in Franklin's ships. He went along to mind them as a newly minted warrant officer.
There are no pictures of John Gregory. The research team has constructed a bust of what he may have looked like.
"I definitely think it had a resemblance to my grandfather," said Gregory. "My mom is still alive and she's extremely proud."
John Gregory's remains were returned to the site in 2014 and placed in a new cairn.
His great-great-great-grandson said there's just one more thing he'd like to do — stand on the lonely, remote spot where his namesake ancestor suffered and died.
"I think that would be quite eerie," he said. "But I like to believe that closure would be a good word, that we've joined the dots."
More dots could be joined, Stenton said.
"We're always working on this. We're very interested in anyone else who is a descendant."
John Gregory himself was last heard from in a letter to his wife Hannah and their five children dated July 9, 1845, posted from Greenland. It closes:
"Give my kind Love to Edward, Fanny, James, William, and kiss baby for me — and accept the same yourself."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2021.
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