By Logan Zachary. May 16, 2020.
This is an extremely rare source for tracing the history of Franklin relics, catalogued here for the first time. I have only met two people aware that this source exists: Jacqui Grainger (who studies this now-lost RUSI Museum) and Jeremy Michell (Polar Relics Curator at Greenwich). It does not appear as a cited source in any relic discussion I have come across – Walpole’s book of relics, Ann Savour’s relics list appendix, the National Maritime Museum’s relic pages, etc. Even the RUSI’s own final 1950s card catalogue is missing information easily available from this source.
What is not easy is accessing this material. Compiling this list required going through over a century of journals and meeting notes from the RUSI institution, at times line by line. While I undoubtedly might have missed something, and it would be great if someone could verify my work, the task requires more than a few afternoons. In addition, the first seven years seem to only be available in one fragile and coverless book, at the RUSI’s top floor library on Whitehall.
RUSI Librarian Jacqui Grainger told me about this source last winter in London, indeed within the first sixty seconds of meeting her. I visited her library looking for any information about the Franklin relics once held by the lost museum. Among a list of places she suggested to research, she said, “Check the secretary’s minutes typed up at the meetings.” This sounded like an absolute longshot, and I mentally dropped it to the bottom of my checklist. It would be months before I asked her to explain that one to me again.
In brief: at every meeting of the Royal United Service Institution, the notetaker would record a page or two of new artifacts that had been acquired by the museum, since the last meeting. This started before the RUSI Journal existed, but was increasingly subsumed into the journal over the next century.
To put this in perspective for tracing Franklin relics: there simply is no book to look these acquisitions up. Not even the references. Starting in 1850, we have the firsthand searchers’ accounts of what was found, and they are shockingly vague if not outright incomplete. The first attempt at a catalog isn’t until 1858 when Parker Snow writes down all the Franklin relics he sees at the RUSI Museum. In between those two points, you have a fog of rare newspaper descriptions, museum visits, Admiralty papers, personal letters, etc. And even then, the first real RUSI museum catalog isn’t until the early twentieth century.
Into that fog, these RUSI meeting notes drop in a regular checkpoint, right from the start, that most if not quite everything passes through.
There are caveats. This list will be an assistance more than the final word. Not everything is here, e.g. some relics went to Greenwich, etc. The descriptions aren’t rigorous. Collections aren’t enumerated. Most concerning: because the new acquisitions were simply “since the last meeting,” it might be impossible to know where we are missing an entire meeting’s acquisition notices. And in the years from 1898 to 1904, the RUSI seems to have neglected to record museum acquisitions at all (or more hopefully, I haven't found them yet). Some years’ acquisition lists I am currently unable to locate because the record I searched was missing those pages.
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To walk through one example:
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/3715.html
George Back’s Tripe de Roche. If you visited Polar Worlds in Greenwich, this artifact is currently on display.
As of this writing, the National Maritime Museum’s website gives no RUSI provenance for this (as they do for other RUSI-Franklin relics). They list George Back only under the heading of “Historical Association.” It appears to be a relic without a history.
However, in 1859 at “One o'clock, p.m. on Saturday the 5th of March”, the RUSI held their 28th Anniversary Meeting. Thirty pages of meticulous notes later, we are in a section detailing donations to the RUSI Museum.
And there it is. Under “Additions to the Museum since the 14th June, 1858,” Rear-Admiral Sir George Back donated a sample of Tripe de Roche to the RUSI Museum. We have a date-stamped entry into a museum collection with the donor listed.
Indeed, the first sentence of Back’s donation entry is a match for the info card still with the relic in Greenwich today:
[It] grows on the rocks, and is abundant on the barren grounds towards the Arctic Sea, near the Coppermine River, North America.
The final lines also match in their substance (and the year listed, “1821”), though the narrative voice changes from George’s to the RUSI notetaker’s.
Assuming George Back wasn't handing out Tripe de Roche business cards all over London, the museum can make an argument for listing this relic with a RUSI provenance, donor listing for George Back, the donation date to the RUSI falling between 14th June 1858 and 5th March 1859. Flipping through the journals, George Back's name comes up again and again; he was a Vice President of the RUSI.
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The RUSI Library, upper gallery, winter 2019 visit
* * *
The RUSI Acquisitions List
Franklin & Northwest Passage Relics, 1850-1960
1851
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1851.
Miscellaneous.
p. 21
An Implement resembling a ‘Rake,’ found at Cape Riley, being the first trace found of Sir John Franklin’s Expedition.
Capt. E. Ommanney, RN
* * *
1852
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1852.
Miscellaneous.
p. 19
A Collection of various Relics of the Franklin Expedition brought to England by Capt. Ommanney, RN., also the Finger Post and Coal-sacks brought home by Capt. Penny.
Presented by John Barrow, Esq.
* * *
1853
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1853.
Miscellaneous.
p. 19
John Barrow, Esq.
* * *
1854
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1854.
Arctic Relics.
p. 19
John Barrow, Esq.
A Collection of drift Wood brought from different stations in the Wellington Channel ; also fragments of Wood, Iron and Copper, picked up at Beechey Island.
Lords of the Admiralty.
* * *
1855
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1855.
Arctic Relics.
p. 23
The Relics which Capt. Forsyth brought home in the Prince Albert in 1850 from Beechey Island.
John Barrow, Esq.
* * *
1855
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1855.
p. 25
A complete List of the Officers, Seamen, and Marines of Sir John Franklin’s Expedition, in H.M. Ships Erebus and Terror. Written on vellum, and framed and glazed.
John Barrow, Esq. F.R.S.
Arctic Relics.
Fragments of Biscuits and Cloth found on the wreck of the Fury by Capt. Sir John Ross after 12 years’ exposure to the Arctic climate.
W. Smith, Esq.
Relics from the Expedition under Sir John Franklin to the Arctic regions, received from the Hudson’s Bay Company and sent by Mr. Anderson from Montreal Island.
The Lords of the Admiralty.
Articles obtained by Dr. Rae from the Esquimaux at Repulse Bay.
John Barrow, Esq. F.R.S.
Select Articles of interest authenticated.
Ditto.
* * *

1858 RUSI Journal Vol. 1
Donations. Among the more important Donations presented to the Institution since the Annual Meeting were –
Miscellaneous.
p. 61
A Medallion of Sir John Franklin; presented by John Barrow, Esq.
* * *
1858 RUSI Journal vol. 1
Additions to the Library and Museum Since the 15th July, 1857
Additions to Library and Museum during 1857.
p. 315
Drawings and Engravings.
Portrait of Lieut. Bellot, late French Navy.
J. Barrow, Esq.
Medals and Coins.
Arctic Medal.
Master of the Mint.
* * *

1859 RUSI Journal vol. 2
Twenty-Eighth Anniversary Meeting.
Additions to the Library and Museum Since the 14th June, 1858.
Museum.
Miscellaneous.
p. xxviii
Specimens of Gyrophora Hyperborea, or Tripe de Roche. It grows on the rocks, and is abundant on the barren grounds towards the Arctic Sea, near the Coppermine River, North America. Sir George Back and his companions subsisted on it for some days when returning from the Arctic Sea in 1821.
Rear-Admiral Sir Geo. Back, D.C.L.
* * *
1860 RUSI Journal Vol. 3
Additions to the Library and Museum
Since the 30th May, 1859.
Twenty-Ninth Anniversary Meeting
p. xxxiii
Maps, Plans, and Charts.
2 Charts of the Arctic Discoveries.
James Wyld, Esq.
Drawings and Engravings.
Photograph of the Yacht ”Fox“
Lieut. Cheyne, R.N.
* * *
1861 RUSI Journal Vol. 4
Evening Meeting.
January 30th, 1860.
Presents.
Library.
Photographs, Prints, &c.
Fourteen Stereoscopic Slides of the Franklin Relics. 1 large Photograph of “The Record” in the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution.
Presented by Lieut. Cheyne, R.N.
* * *
1866 RUSI Journal Vol. 10
Proceedings of the Thirty-Sixth Anniversary Meeting.
…held 2nd of March 1867
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1866.
Maps, Plans, Charts, Sketches, &c.
Engraving of a Memorial Post Office erected at Beechey Island.
J. Barrow, Esq., F.R.S.
* * *
1869-70 RUSI Journal Vol. 13
Proceedings of the Thirty-Ninth Anniversary Meeting.
…held 5th March, 1870.
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1869.
Naval.
Miscellaneous.
Presented.
p. xxix
Franklin Relics. Seven Papers or Envelopes; a Seaman’s (Henry Peglar, Captain of the Foretop, H.M.S. “Terror”) Parchment Certificate; and the remains of a Pocket-book, found near a skeleton on the south shore of King William’s Island.
Capt. Sir L. McClintock, Kt., R.N.
* * *

1877 RUSI Journal Vol. 20
Proceedings of the Forty-Sixth Anniversary Meeting.
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1876.
Museum.
Miscellaneous.
Presented.
Naval. – Miscellaneous.
A Tablet marked Observatory, 1824-25, and a Cylinder marked His Brittanic Majesty’s Ships Hecla and Fury, Port Bowen, June, 1825, containing Papers left by Captain Kennedy, R.N., Commanding H.M. Ship Prince Albert in 1851, at Port Bowen, Prince Regent’s Inlet.
These were brought home by Captain Suter of the Tay Whale Fishing Company’s Ship Intrepid.
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
Two Log-Books of H.M.S. Assistance, Arctic Expedition, 1854; a Memo from Sir Edward Belcher to Sir John Frankland, 23rd June, 1853. Printed on Silk and Despatched by Balloon.
Mr. Briaut.
* * *
1881 RUSI Journal Vol. 25
Proceedings of the Fifty-First Anniversary Meeting.
…held March 4th, 1882.
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1882.
Naval.
Miscellaneous.
Presented.
Two Snow-shoes, three Fish-hooks and one Spear from the Arctic regions.
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
* * *
1889 RUSI Journal Vol. 33
Proceedings of the Fifty-Ninth Anniversary Meeting.
…held March 1st, 1890.
Additions to the Library and Museum during 1889.
Museum.
Presented, 1889.
Arctic Medal belonging to Paymaster H. H. Hawley, R.N., H.M.S. “Phoenix.”
By Mrs. Frederick Hawley.
* * *
1905 RUSI Journal Vol. 49
February, 1905.
Secretary’s Notes.
p. 117
9. Museum – The following exhibits have been added to the Museum during the past month:
b. A collection of Franklin relics, being the first traces of the Franklin Expedition, found by Admiral Sir Erasmus Ommanney, K.C.B. (Given by Lady Ommanney.)
* * *
1908 RUSI Journal Vol. 52-1
June, 1908.
Secretary’s Notes.
p. 750
3. Additions to the Museum.
c. A Miniature Portrait of Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin; painted by Drummond.
Given by B. Harcourt, Esq.
* * *
1910 RUSI Journal vol. 54-1
January, 1910.
Secretary’s Notes.
p. 3
IX. Additions to the Museum
(6046)
(1) A Silver Figure illustrative of “Fame,” presented to Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Le Mesurier McClure by officers of the Royal Navy “in admiration for his intrepidity and perseverance in penetrating through the Polar Ocean in search of Sir John Franklin, which led to the discovery of the North-West Passage, and has rendered his name distinguished in the naval annals of the British Empire.” The expedition, consisting of H.M. discovery ships Enterprise and Investigator, sailed from Plymouth on 21st January, 1850, and four winters were passed by McClure’s party in the ice.
(2) The Decorations and Medals of Vice-Admiral Sir Robert McClure, consisting of the
Insignia of a Companion of the Bath,
China Medal with Clasp, “Canton, 1857,”
Arctic Medal.
Bequeathed by Lady McClure.
* * *
1913 RUSI Journal vol. 57-2
August, 1913.
Secretary’s Notes
V. – Additions to the Museum.
p. 1007
(6592)
Photograph of the original despatch in six languages, dated 28th May, 1846, of Sir John Franklin, H.M.S. “Erebus,” Lat. 70.º5 in. N. Long. 98.º23 in. W., to the Secretary of the Admiralty. The copy was formerly the property of Admiral Charlewood.
– Given by E. P. Charlewood, Esq.
* * *
1918 RUSI Journal vol. 63
(3rd quarterly issue of the year)
Secretary’s Notes.
VII. – The Museum.
Additions.
p. xiv
(6938)
A pair of Snuffers, found August 12th, 1851, on the spot on which the Armourer of H.M.S. “Erebus” had erected his forge in 1846. They were found by the Mate of H.M.S. “Felix,” and brought home by Sir John Ross. (For particulars of H.M.S. “Erebus” and “Terror” see 661 in the Museum Catalogue).
Given by Mrs. Philip Lee.
* * *
1922 RUSI Journal vol. 67
February, 1922.
Secretary’s Notes.
XII. – The Museum.
Additions.
p. ix
(7532)
Teak Walking-Stick made from the timber of the “Fox.”
– Given by Professor A. C. Seward, M.A., F.R.S., Hon. Sc.D., Master of Downing College, Cambridge.
* * *
1931 RUSI Journal vol. 76
August, 1931.
Secretary’s Notes.
Museum.
Additions.
p. xx
(8394)
Tin of food taken by Captain Parry on his Arctic expedition, 1825.
– Presented by F. Foreshaw, Esq.
* * *
1931 RUSI Journal vol. 76
November, 1931.
Secretary’s Notes.
Museum.
Additions.
p. xxvii
(1418)
Piece of timber from H.M.S. “Fury,” a relic of Sir John Ross’s Expedition, 1828-1833.
– Presented by Major A. N. Collings.
* * *
1934 RUSI Journal vol. 79
February, 1934.
Secretary’s Notes.
Museum.
Additions.
p. v
(8646)
Candles taken by Captain Parry on his Arctic Expedition, 1825.
– Presented by Mrs. W. A. MacLeod.
* * *

1934 RUSI Journal vol. 79
May, 1934.
Secretary’s Notes.
Museum.
Additions.
p. ix
(8673)
Arctic Medal awarded to Paymaster T. W. Cotsell, R.N., who took part in Sir John Franklin’s second Expedition to the Arctic.
– Presented by T. W. and A. L. Cotsell.
* * *
1934 RUSI Journal vol. 79
August, 1934.
Secretary’s Notes.
Museum.
Additions.
p. xiii
(8701)
Fragment of a boat’s ensign found at Cape Felix, King William Island, by the McClintock Expedition in search of Franklin.
– Given by Mrs. K. Hoar.
* * *
1947
NOTE: This can’t be Franklin of the Arctic.
“Dirk of the pattern 1820-1835, worn by Lieutenant John Franklin, R.N., who entered the Royal Navy in 1830. (9345.) Given by Commander C. P. Franklin, R.N.”
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The End.
Years with museum acquisitions apparently not listed: 1898 – 1904.
– L.Z. May 16, 2020.