Ontario university researchers say they used DNA samples to identify a second crew member from Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated 1845 Northwest Passage expedition.
The researchers from the University of Waterloo and Lakehead University in Sudbury say the match of James Fitzjames’ bones were made possible through the use of a DNA sample from a living descendant.
“We worked with a good quality sample that allowed us to generate a Y-chromosome profile, and we were lucky enough to obtain a match,” stated Stephen Fratpietro of Lakehead’s Paleo-DNA lab, in a release from the University of Waterloo.
Fitzjames was one of the senior officers on the expedition, which saw two ships disappear in Nunavut in 1845.
The ships were locked in by ice and FitzJames tried to help lead the 105 men to safety but none would survive and their remains have been found around King William Island, Nunavut, from time to time over the years since.
“The identification of Fitzjames’ remains provides new insights about the expedition’s sad ending,” said Douglas Stenton, adjunct professor of anthropology at Waterloo.
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The team also identified John Gregory, an engineer aboard the HMS Erebus, in 2021.
In a release, the University of Waterloo said, “In the 1850s Inuit told searchers they had seen evidence that survivors had resorted to cannibalism, shocking some Europeans.”
There were 13 bodies found at one site known as on the island known as NgLj-2
Those accounts were corroborated by Anne Keenleyside in 1997, who found cut marks on nearly one-quarter of the human bones NgLj-2, proving that cannibalism occurred.
The University of Waterloo says that a 3D scan of Fitzjames’ mandible found the existence of cut marks, which would seem to indicate canabilism as well.
“This shows that he predeceased at least some of the other sailors who perished, and that neither rank nor status was the governing principle in the final desperate days of the expedition as they strove to save themselves,” Stenton explained.
Robert Park, an anthropology professor at Waterloo, said that the since the ships and sailors disappeared, there has been widespread interest.
“Ever since the expedition disappeared into the Arctic 179 years ago there has been widespread interest in its ultimate fate, generating many speculative books and articles and, most recently, a popular television miniseries which turned it into a horror story with cannibalism as one of its themes. Meticulous archaeological research like this shows that the true story is just as interesting, and that there is still more to learn,” Park said.
The school is still looking to identify the remains of others who were a part of the expedition and is asking relatives to contact Stenton.
“We are extremely grateful to this family for sharing their history with us and for providing DNA samples, and welcome opportunities to work with other descendants of members of the Franklin expedition to see if their DNA can be used to identify other individuals,” Stenton said.
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