A relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-48. Silver fiddle pattern table fork, engraved on the back of the handle with the owner’s monogram ‘A Mc D’ (Alexander Macdonald, Assistant Surgeon, HMS 'Terror'). It was obtained from the Inuit at Repulse Bay in 1854 by the Rae Expedition. The Inuit said that they had found the material at a camp to the north west of the mouth of the Back River where a party of Europeans had died of starvation.

The fork has London hallmarks with the date letter for 1831-32 and the maker’s initials ‘B.D.’ possibly Benjamin Davis or Benjamin Dexter. It was presented to Greenwich Hospital by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 2 December 1854.

Alexander Macdonald was born at Laurencekirk, Kincardineshire on 13 September 1817. He graduated as licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh in 1838. In 1840 he served on a whaling vessel commanded by Captain William Penny and wrote an account of his experiences. Between 2 September 1841 and 5 March 1845 he served as surgeon on board HMS 'Belvidera' in the Mediterranean. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon in HMS 'Terror' on Sir John Franklin's last expedition of 1845.