Wed Sep 25 09:00:24 UTC 2024: ## Remains of Captain James Fitzjames, Lost in Franklin’s Arctic Expedition, Identified Through DNA Analysis
**OTTAWA, CANADA** – The remains of Captain James Fitzjames, one of the key figures in Sir John Franklin’s infamous Northwest Passage expedition, have been identified through DNA analysis, providing a new insight into the grim fate of the doomed voyage. Researchers from the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto isolated Fitzjames’ DNA from a single molar found at a site on King William Island, Nunavut, where the remains of at least a dozen crew members were discovered in the 1860s.
Fitzjames, a seasoned Royal Navy officer, served as captain of HMS Erebus, one of the two ships that departed England in 1845 with the ambition of charting a navigable route through the Arctic. The expedition ended in disaster, with all 129 crew members succumbing to the harsh conditions. The crew’s fate remained a mystery for decades, with multiple search efforts failing to find any trace of them.
In the past decade, researchers, aided by Inuit oral histories, were able to locate the final resting places of the Erebus and Terror, shedding light on the expedition’s tragic end.
The identification of Fitzjames, following the earlier identification of John Gregory, an engineer aboard the Erebus, provides a more personal connection to the expedition’s demise. The discovery, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, confirms Inuit accounts of cannibalism among the desperate survivors, as evidenced by the marks of human-made cuts on nearly a quarter of the recovered bones.
“It just speaks to the desperate conditions that they faced at that site,” said Douglas Stenton, adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Waterloo and lead author of the research. “This was survival cannibalism and it was a very desperate measure that some of the men took – and sadly, it only prolonged their suffering.”
The researchers are continuing to investigate the site, seeking a deeper understanding of the events that unfolded in the final days of the expedition. While Inuit accounts proved crucial in locating the wrecks, discrepancies remain regarding the details of the survivors’ fate, highlighting the need for a nuanced approach to historical interpretation.
The identification of Fitzjames serves as a poignant reminder of the tragic human cost of the Franklin expedition, adding a human dimension to a story shrouded in mystery and despair.
First Piper 