Anthropologists from the University of Waterloo have successfully identified four more sailors from Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated 1845 Arctic expedition through DNA analysis of skeletal remains. The identifications were made by comparing genetic material extracted from archaeological remains with mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA provided by living descendants. These four new identifications increase the total number of Franklin expedition sailors identified through DNA to six.
Franklin’s two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, became trapped in Arctic ice by 1848 after less than three years at sea. The 105 surviving crew members abandoned the vessels in April of that year and attempted a desperate journey across King William Island and the Adelaide Peninsula toward safety. None of the crew members survived the expedition’s final stages. Remains have been discovered across the region since the mid-19th century, with the latest DNA analysis resolving several historical mysteries.
Three of the newly identified sailors—William Orren, David Young, and John Bridgens—served aboard HMS Erebus and died at Erebus Bay. The fourth identification resolved a 166-year-old mystery surrounding Harry Peglar, Captain of the Foretop on HMS Terror, whose body was discovered in 1859 carrying personal documents but whose remains had been the subject of debate regarding identity. The Peglar Papers, written documents found with his remains, contain poetry and descriptions of expedition events. Unlike the remains of Captain James Fitzjames identified in 2024, the four newly identified sailors showed no evidence of cannibalism.
The research team extracted DNA under the direction of Stephen Fratpietro from Lakehead University and compared the genetic material with samples from descendants possessing documented genealogical records showing direct maternal or paternal lines. Each identification yielded a genetic distance of zero, indicating definitive matches between remains and descendants. The findings appear in two scientific papers published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports and Polar Record. Researchers have noted that additional DNA samples from other Franklin expedition descendants could help identify more remains still unaccounted for.
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