Cutlery (ca. 1844-1845)
| Created by: | Unknown |
| Archive: | National Maritime Museum |
| Reference number: | Object ID no. AAA2387 |
| Date: | ca. 1844-1845 |
| Notes: | Relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-48. A silver, fiddle-pattern dessert spoon owned by Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). The back of the handle bears the Franklin crest: a conger eel's head, between two branches. It was obtained from the Inuit at Repulse Bay in 1854 by the Rae Expedition. The Inuit said they had found the material at a camp to the north west of the mouth of the Back River where a party of Europeans had died of starvation. The spoon has London hallmarks with the date letter for 1844-45 and the maker's mark of George Adams (the initials 'GA'). It was presented to Greenwich Hospital by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 2 December 1854. |
