A relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-48. A silver fiddle-pattern table spoon belonging to Lieutenant James Walter Fairholme. 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 spoon has London hallmarks and the date 1842. The maker's initials 'WE' may be those of William Eaton. The front of the handle is engraved with the Fairholme crest: a dove with an olive branch and the motto 'Spero Meliora' (I hope for better things). The letters 'CH' are roughly scratched below the crest, probably the initials of Cornelius Hickey, the Irish caulker's mate of HMS 'Terror'. The presence of initials of crew members marked on officer's silver cutlery suggests that it was distributed amongst the men in an attempt to save it. The item was presented to Greenwich Hospital by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 2 December 1854.

James Walter Fairholme was probably born in Kinnoul, Perth on 10 January 1821. He entered the Navy in 1834, serving on the West India Station in ‘Gannet’ and ‘Madagascar’. In 1838 he was captured by Moors after being wrecked on the West Coast of Africa while engaged in anti-slavery duties. He took part in the Syrian Campaign in ‘Ganges’ in 1840 (James Fitzjames was Lieutenant in the same ship). In 1841 he served in one of the three small steamers sent to explore the Niger. Fairholme was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 31 January 1842 and shortly after was invalided home with a tropical fever. After serving in the ‘Excellent’ and ‘Superb’, Commander Fitzjames recommended him to be appointed as Lieutenant in HMS ‘Erebus’ during Sir John Franklin’s 1845 North West Passage expedition. He perished with the rest of Franklin’s crews.