By April 1848 , the members of the 1845Franklin expeditionhad leave up hope of observe the Northwest Passage . Their ship , theHMSTerrorand HMSErebus , had been frozen in the icy Canadian Arctic for more than a yr and a one-half , during which time intimately two XII men — including the expedition ’s commander , Sir John Franklin — had already perished . Realizing their only fortune of survival was to seek out deliverance themselves , the 105 persist gentleman’s gentleman amassed their dwindling foodstuffs and abandon the ships .
It was a disaster . Every last one of them die , and they likely resorted to cannibalism during the trek . Without any survivor ( and so few know written records ) , thefate of the Franklin expeditionbecame one of the most overwhelming enigma in the history ofArctic geographic expedition . Over the preceding 160 age or so , raw evidence has slowly emerged . osseous tissue and artifacts have been found on King William Island in Nunavut ; and researchers finallylocatedthe HMSErebusandTerrorshipwrecks off the island in 2014 and 2016 , severally .
Since dig up a collection of pearl in 2013 , Canadian researchers from the University of Waterloo , Lakehead University , and Trent University have been extracting desoxyribonucleic acid and encouraging the sailors ’ descendants to subject their own deoxyribonucleic acid samples for key the cadaver . They late got their first match : One skull is now cognize to have belonged to John Gregory , an applied scientist on theErebuswho was in his mid - forties . The Franklin expedition was his first — and last — ocean trip .
His direct agnate descendent , Jonathan Gregory , who lives in Port Elizabeth , South Africa , had station in a DNA sample after hear about the endeavor from a relative in British Columbia . AsThe New York Timesreports , Jonathan Gregory had n’t really been certain he was related to John Gregory until now .
“ Having John Gregory ’s remains being the first to be identified via inherited analysis is an incredible sidereal day for our category , as well as all those interested in the badly - fated Franklin expedition , ” he say in apress vent . “ The whole Gregory family is super grateful to the entire research squad for their dedication and operose employment , which is so decisive in unlocking objet d’art of account that have been freeze in time for so long . ”
Not only do we now make out that Gregory was among the 105 valet de chambre who set off in search of rescue , but we also know roughly where he died : on the shore of Erebus Bay , along the southwesterly coast of King William Island , closely 50 stat mi south of where the ships were abandoned . The full details of thestudywere bring out in the journalPolar Record , but the research worker ’ study is far from over — they’re still desire to find matches for desoxyribonucleic acid samples take from 26 other victims ’ remains .
“ The more somebody we can identify , there might be some useful data that could come up that might help us better understand [ what befall to them ] , ” Douglas Stenton , a University of Waterloo assistant assistant prof of anthropology and jumper cable author of the subject , toldThe New York Times .
