Sir John Franklin

John Franklin was born on 16 April 1786 in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, the youngest son of Willingham and Hannah Franklin. He was educated at Louth Grammar School in Lincolnshire, joining the Royal Navy in October 1800 as a first-class volunteer in HMS Polyphemus which participated in the battle of Copenhagen in April 1801. Following his discharge, he joined an expedition to explore the largely uncharted coast of New Holland [Australia], serving as midshipman in HMS Investigator under the command of his uncle, Captain Matthew Flinders. The expedition circumnavigated Australia between 1802 and 1803 but failed to complete a detailed survey due to the vessel's unsoundness and scurvy among the crew.

On his return to Britain in 1804, Franklin resumed war duty with the Royal Navy, acting as a signal midshipman in HMS Bellerophon at the battle of Trafalgar before serving in HMS Bedford between 1807 and 1815. Promoted lieutenant in 1808, Franklin saw brief and inactive service as first lieutenant in HMS Forth in 1815 before he was discharged on half-pay. In 1818, he was selected to command HMS Trent on the British Naval North Polar Expedition (leader David Buchan), sent to Svalbard in company with HMS Dorothea in an attempt to seek a passage to Bering Strait and the Pacific Ocean by way of the North Pole. After failing to penetrate the pack-ice northwest of Spitsbergen, the two vessels sustained damage during a gale and were forced to return to Britain later in the year.

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