DNA test identifies sailor from doomed Arctic expedition

A second member of a doomed 1845 expedition to the Canadian Arctic has been identified by researchers using a DNA sample from a living descendant.

Bones found in a remote Arctic cairn are believed to be those of 19th-century explorer James Fitzjames.

Fitzjames was one of the captains of British explorer Sir John Franklin’s two ships that disappeared in the summer of 1845.

The expedition was intended to find a Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic, but it ultimately turned into a tale of starvation and death. The commander and his 128 men never returned.

This ill-fated expedition has inspired artwork, books and television series with fictionalized depictions of their struggle for survival.

In 1845, Sir John Franklin, a British Royal Navy officer, led two ships and 129 men to the Northwest Territories in an attempt to map the Northwest Passage.

If properly mapped, the route would allow sailors to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the Arctic Circle.

Sir John Franklin died during the voyage and Fitzjames was one of two men who replaced him.

When their two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, became trapped in the ice, Fitzjames helped 105 crew members attempt to escape the Arctic. None survived.

Fitzjames also co-signed the last known message from the expedition.

“Sir John Franklin died June 11, 1847, and the total loss by death in the expedition to date has been nine officers and 15 men… (We) leave tomorrow the 26th for Backs Fish River,” the message read.

The wreck of HMS Erebus was discovered in 2014. The other ship, Terror, was found in 2016.

Fitzjames’ remains were identified by researchers from the University of Waterloo and Lakehead University using genealogical analysis.

The identification was made possible by a DNA sample from a living descendant that matched DNA discovered at the King William Island archaeological site where 451 bones from at least 13 of Franklin’s sailors were found.

“We worked with a good quality sample that allowed us to generate a Y chromosome profile, and we were fortunate to get a match,” said Stephen Fratpietro of Lakehead’s Paleo-DNA lab.

Fitzjames is only the second of those 105 to be positively identified, joining John Gregory, an engineer aboard HMS Erebus, who the team identified in 2021.

“The identification of Fitzjames’ remains provides new insight into the sad end of the expedition,” said Doug Stenton, an archaeologist at the University of Waterloo.

Researchers are looking for other DNA matches to the discovered remains.