Nelson & His World

I just read in the paper this morning that the desk in the Oval Office of the White House is made of timber from H.M.S. Resolute - a gift from Queen Victoria around 1880.

H.M.S. Resolute was the ship that searched for Sir John Franklin when he went missing on his Arctic expedition.

And of course Franklin had been a midshipman on HMS Bellerophon at Trafalgar.

I did say tenuous!!

But an interesting story nevertheless.

MB

Wow! - I was shocked that the Resolute Desk has it's own Wikipedia entry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolute_Desk

And there are several copies of the desk in other locations!!

Crikey!!!

MB

A bit of a digression - but Lady Franklin deserves a mention. She never gave up hope that her husband was alive. She spent her fortune to support expeditions to find him, kept his name in the public eye and the Admiralty's ear, and refused to wear mourning until she finally received the news that he was dead.

The poet Sheenagh Pugh has written a moving sequence of poems, 'Lady Franklin's Man' describing this long vigil of a faithful naval wife.

She had a monument erected in his memory, to which the Dean of Westminster added the following:

'this monument was erected by Jane, his widow, who after long waiting, and sending many in search of him, herself departed to seek and to find him in the realms of light'.

It's a fascinating story all round - even without the little tit bit I have appended to it!!

T

I believe the statue you refer to is the one in London. There is another statue in his home town of Spilsby in Lincolnshire (see below).

It is in quite a prominent position in the town and I am embarassed to say that in the past I had passed it quite a few times without having a clue about his amazing life.

2 of the statues in Birmingham now have what they call "Interpretation Boards" (basically information boards) attached to them. The Nelson statue is one of them. They show a summary of the person's life in words and pictures.

If I had my way there would be such a board on every statue in the country.

MB

The Franklin statue in Spilsby

And what a worthy statue! I imagine it to be of some antiquity, not one of those modern things with no detail on it such as the folds in the clothes, etc.
(If you've seen the one of Brunel at Paddington station, you'll know what I mean!)

The story of the search for Franklin, and not least the part played in it by his wife is an enthralling read and could be the basis for a great film. I am surprised no-one has yet made one about him, or at least I don't think so. It has all the required elements, drama, excitement, a love story, a tragic ending... if only the director would leave the facts alone and not tinker with them. However, he/she will want to 'interpret' it for today's audience – who haven't a brain of their own and can't be expected to understand that all that dry historical stuff – and of course add their own artistic flair!

Trolling through the Chatham historic Dockyard site, I came across this – with reference to the pen holder made of timber from HMS Gannet, and which I think answers the question as to which ship the timber came from:

http://www.chdt.org.uk/Latest_News?newsarticleid=219

Thanks for the info on HMS Gannet, Kester.

A bit more on Franklin - a little out of 'our period', but of interest, I think.

Franklin went on the expedition in an attempt to rescue his reputation which he felt had been damaged during a short spell as governor of Tasmania where he and Lady Franklin attracted the hostility and contempt of Hobart society for trying to improve the lot of the convict and aborigine inhabitants - another example of a humanitarian naval officer.

Lady Franklin was well supported by the generosity and courage of those who went to search for Franklin: Commander Edward Inglefield, Sir John Ross, and a French naval officer, Lt Joseph-René Bellot, who was 'endearingly affectionate' and treated as a son by Lady Franklin. He has a memorial and a street named after him in Greenwich.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Ren%C3%A9_Bellot

Those following this thread might be interested in a new exhibition at the NMM entitled 'The North West Passage', which has many of the artefacts from the Franklin expedition on display besides much else.

I have put details of the exhibition under the Information Forum.