A relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-8. A silver table fork inscribed with an unidentified crest depicting on owl. It has London hallmarks, the date code for 1844-5 and the maker's intials 'WE'. It was probably made by William Esterbrook. The item was found in an abandoned boat at Erebus Bay, King William Island, in May 1859 by the McClintock Search Expedition 1857-9.
McClintock's party reached this site on the 30 May and discovered that Hobson had been there a few days before on the 18th. The boat was 28 foot long and mounted on a heavy sledge. McClintock found it just above high tide mark pointing back in the direction of the ships and containing a large quantity of abandoned personal possessions and two skeletons
F. L. McClintock 'The voyage of the Fox in the Arctic seas' p. 297 'I do not know to whom the three articles with the owl engraved on them belonged.'