Rectangular empty tin can

A large rectangular empty tin supplied to the 1845 Franklin Northwest Passage Expedition and found at Beechey Island in September 1852 Part of the top surface remaining at a corner and there are two small holes in the front side. It is made of sheets of tinned wrought iron soldered together. . In white paint on the side '(10) EMPTY PRESERVED MEAT TINS, BROUGHT FROM BEECHEY ISLAND', recording its display in the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, where it was exhibited in the Franklin Room, Case 11, Number 10.

Captain E. A. Inglefield's expedition stopped at Beechey Island on his return from surveying in the Polar Basin and delivering mail and provisions to the depot ship 'North Star', which served as a base for the 1852-54 Belcher Expedition. According to his subsequent publication 'A Summer Search for Sir John Franklin' he reached the island on 7 September 1852 and remained there for twelve hours. There they 'picked up some of the meat canisters with which the island is strewed, and made a collection of some of the relics of canvas and wood which were still found scattered here and there...' (page 86).

Object Details

ID: AAA2033
Collection: Polar Equipment and Relics
Type: Meat can
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Unknown
Events: Arctic Exploration: Franklin's Last Expedition, 1845-1848; Arctic Exploration: Franklin Search Expedition, Inglefield, 1852
Vessels: Isabel fl.1850
Date made: 1845
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Measurements: Overall: 254 x 235 x 165 mm
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