*Relief of Sir John Franklin.

*Relief of Sir John Franklin.
Autograph letter signed by Richard Collinson (1811-1883), 'R. Collinson', no place, no date [end of November, 1856],
to the Editor of The Times, 'In your leading article on Thursday relative to the continuance of the search for Sir J. Franklin and his companions you have most unfairly summed up the results of expeditions hitherto sent in quest of our missing countrymen. There is not a doubt that great hardships have been undergone and perils encountered but the assertion that the crews of the abandoned ships were withdrawn by a miracle almost as not warranted by the fact related in the Journals now before the public. So long as no clue was obtained to the route pursued by the necessary vessels after leaving Beechey Island there was a necessity that every nook and corner of the Arctic Sea should be examined entailing what we know now to be much unnecessary hazard and fatigue. The case is now different we know the exact spot where to go to we know that the confines of the area have been reached we are aware that the travelling parties from the Enterprise could have traversed the very route pursued by the crews of the Erebus & Terror after they abandoned their vessels and we are aware that that ship returned in safety to England. Yet in the face of all this you call upon the British public to discountenance what you are pleased to term so outrageous a proceeding...', continuing that we owe it to the memory of these 135 Englishmen 'whose lives have failed a sacrifice to the accomplishment of a great geographical problem, to the satisfaction of their friends & relatives that the mystery should be cleared up. We owe it to our national honour that what we have begun should be accomplished and that we should not deprive our fellow countrymen who may hereafter be in difficulty of that firm trust in succour which has hitherto formed a bond on union in distress. Sir, I have been brought up in the persuasion that perseverance in a good and noble cause is one of the attributes of the Anglo-Saxon race. Let us not permit the slur of abandoning the fate of our missing countrymen to surmise to be handed down to posterity when we have it in our power without serious risk to place the matter beyond a doubt...', 2 pages with integral blank, some browning and mounting guard to inner margin, 4to
This would appear to be a copy letter written by Collinson, the original dated at Boldon, Gateshead, 28 November 1856 was published in The Times on Monday 1 December 1856, page 5. 'In 1849 Collinson was appointed to command an expedition for the relief of Sir John Franklin, by way of the Bering Strait; he himself had command of the Enterprise, and with him was Commander Robert Le Mesurier McClure in the Investigator. ... Of the many who had searched for Franklin, Collinson came closest to the place where the expedition had ended. Collinson's addition to geographical knowledge on this Arctic trip was very considerable, and would have been tantamount to the discovery of the North-West Passage, had this not been already actually achieved by the men of the Investigator' (ODNB Online). Autograph material by Collinson is rare.
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