We now know who was cannibalised on the doomed Franklin expedition

Recently, human remains from the ill-fated Franklin expedition of the British Royal Navy have been positively identified as Captain James Fitzjames through the use of DNA and genealogical evidence. This identification has also revealed Fitzjames as the first confirmed victim of cannibalism among the expedition members.

The Franklin expedition, led by Sir John Franklin in 1845, aimed to discover a navigable North-West Passage through the Arctic with 129 men on board the ships HMS Terror and HMS Erebus. However, in 1848, Captain James Fitzjames, commanding the HMS Erebus, left a report indicating that the survivors had decided to abandon the ships. Subsequently, skeletal remains of several sailors were found in different locations across the Canadian Arctic.

Research led by Douglas Stenton at the University of Waterloo in Canada utilized Y chromosome profiles from a tooth discovered on King William Island to match with cheek swabs from one of Fitzjames’s descendants, establishing a genealogical connection. This scientific breakthrough has provided closure to the mystery surrounding the fate of Captain Fitzjames.

Furthermore, the examination of the remains has uncovered evidence of cannibalism within the ranks of the Franklin expedition. Analysis by bioarchaeologist Anne Keenleyside revealed cut marks on several recovered remains, including a lower jawbone belonging to Fitzjames, suggesting that the remaining survivors resorted to consuming parts of his body and that of other sailors in a bid for survival.

This grim revelation sheds light on the extreme conditions faced by the Franklin sailors and underscores the importance of incorporating Indigenous Inuit testimonies. The Inuit community’s accounts of witnessing the expedition members resorting to cannibalism align with the scientific findings, highlighting the collaborative nature of historical research.