Surviving Gallery

The End of Sir John Franklins Arctic Expedition, 1845

Engraving showing the end of Sir John Franklin's ill-fated Arctic expedition of 1845, entitled They Forged the last link with their lives'. This engraving was taken from a painting by W. Thomas Smith, exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1896. In 1845 the British Admiralty sent two polar exploration ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, to look for the Northwest passage round the northern coast of Canada. The expedition, commanded by Sir John Franklin, disappeared from view late in 1845 and none of the men were ever seen again. In fact the ships made it to the King William Island region, then got stuck in the ice. With supplies running out the surviving crew abandoned ship and headed south. However, none made it to safety and it is all died from disease, exposure or starvation. This image shows the end of that desperate attempt to reach safety. From 1848 onwards a number of relief expeditions were sent to find Franklin, but it was only in 1859 that Francis Leopold McClintock was finally able to confirm Franklin's fate

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Heston Type 1 Phoenix G-AESV

Heston Type 1 Phoenix G-AESV, owned by Standard Telephonics at Brooklands. G-AESV was impressed into the Royal Air Force as X2891for No.24 Squadron ; Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down for blind approach trials in December 1941 ; Scottish Aviation Ltd. At Prestwick in 1942 ; Air Fighting Development Unit at RAF Wittering in 1943. Surviving the war AESV was re-registered as G-AESV and flew regularly till April 1952, when it crashed in the French Alps. Date: 1937

© The Peter Butt Aviation Collection / Mary Evans

London, England - Camel

London, England - Camel - Two Humped Camel. Part of Box 23 Boswell Collection. A Day trip to London.A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. The two surviving species of camel are the dromedary, or one-humped camel (C. dromedarius), which inhabits the Middle East and the Horn of Africa; and the bactrian, or two-humped camel (C. bactrianus), which inhabits Central Asia. Date: circa 1890s

© The Boswell Collection, Bexley Heritage Trust / Mary Evans