Button

A relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-48. A plain brass button with a shank found by Lieutenant W.R. Hobson at an abandoned camp site at Cape Felix, King William Island on 25 May 1859. It was collected by the McClintock Search Expedition 1857-59. The button has 'STANDARD COLOUR GILT' stamped on the reverse.

The camp site was occupied by about twelve officers and men from the Franklin expedition during the summer of 1847; they lived in three small tents. They were probably engaged in surveying, scientific work or hunting while the expeditions ships remained trapped in the ice. The site was apparently abandoned in a hurry. Hobson found the tents flattened with blankets and bear skins underneath. Hobson concluded that, as the party had left behind so much of their equipment, they had probably gone back to the ships.

Object Details

ID: AAA2139
Collection: Polar Equipment and Relics
Type: Button
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Unknown
Events: Arctic Exploration: Franklin's Last Expedition, 1845-1848; Arctic Exploration: Franklin Search Expedition, McClintock, 1857-1859
Vessels: Fox (1855)
Date made: Before 1845
People: Hobson, William Robert
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Measurements: 6 x 22 mm