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In his first Arctic expedition of 1846-7, Rae left with a small group of people and carried only a small amount of food, choosing instead to live off the land by means of hunting. They built a stone house, called Fort Hope, but found it unsuitable as it was so cold.
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by Ken McGoogan Canadian globe-trotting, history-hunting...
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- And The Surprising Reason You Might Not Have Heard of Him
- Explorer Training
- Young Dr Rae
- Surveyor For The Hudson's Bay Company
- The First Expedition
- The Search For Franklin's Missing Ships
- The First Clue
- The Missing Link
- A Dreadful Discovery
- John Rae, Scapegoat
Orkney’s John Rae was one of the most successful of 19th century Arctic explorers. His success was largely due to his willingness to learn from the Inuit and First Nations people, who knew how to survive in inhospitable places. This attitude was highly unusual in the Victorian era of prejudice and racial arrogance. Ironically, Rae’s decency and res...
Rae was born at the Hall of Clestrain in Orphir, Orkney, on 30th September 1813. He was one of nine children to be raised in the house where their father was factor. * Image courtesy of Orkney Library and Archive Young John loved to fish, shoot wild fowl on hill and shore and sail the family’s small boat. This early education would serve him well i...
Rae studied medicine at Edinburgh University and the Royal College of Surgeons, qualifying at the astonishing age of nineteen. His father was the agent for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Stromness at the time. Young Dr Rae signed on as ship’s surgeon on the Prince of Wales, bound for Canada. Rae was forced to winter in Canada when the return route bec...
The Hudson’s Bay Company Governor-in-Chief, Sir George Simpson, selected the skilled and hardy Rae as the fittest man to finish mapping the Arctic coast. He invited Rae to receive training as a surveyor. Just getting to the training site would prove to be a test of Rae's skill, strength and determination. * Image courtesy of Orkney Library and Arch...
In his first Arctic expedition (1846-7) Rae took just a few men and modest supplies, intending to hunt and live off the land as his First Nations friends had taught him. Rae and his men built a stone house in Orkney fashion and called it Fort Hope. The men always prepared extra food, so they'd have a 'bite and sup' on hand in case of Inuit visitors...
Rae returned to the Arctic when he was chosen as second in command for Sir John Richardson’s 1848 search party. The men were dispatched by the Royal Navy to search for the lost Franklin Expedition. Franklin's two ships, carrying 129 men, had sailed from London in 1845. Stromness, Orkney, was the last British port of call for Franklin's ships, the H...
In his third Arctic expedition in 1851, Rae discovered the first trace of Franklin’s missing ships. He found a piece of wood and part of a flagstaff containing the remnants of silk cloth. The piece carried the unmistakable broad arrow mark, marking it as British government property. Rae was awarded the Founder’s Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical...
During his fourth Arctic expedition (1853-4), Rae made the important discovery that King William Land was not a peninsula but an island. His discovery of Rae Strait, which was named for Rae and skirts King William Land, was the last link in the only navigable Northwest Passage that existed at the time. Rae's passage was part of the network of open ...
Rae discovered disturbing evidence during this expedition as to the fate of Franklin and his men. He met Inuit who told him that a party of around 40 white men had died of starvation on King William Island, resorting to cannibalism in a final desperate attempt to stay alive. While Rae was prepared for dangerous arctic conditions, the inventory of t...
Returning to London heavy with with the tidings of the fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew, Rae walked straight into a storm of controversy. Lady Franklin had been aggressively harassing the Admiralty for years. She'd even moved across the street from their offices, to more conveniently bedevil them. The Admiralty called Lady Franklin's house 'T...
John Rae FRS FRGS (Inuktitut: ᐊᒡᓘᑲ, ; 30 September 1813 – 22 July 1893) was a Scottish surgeon who explored parts of northern Canada. He was a pioneer explorer of the Northwest Passage. Rae explored the Gulf of Boothia, northwest of the Hudson Bay, from 1846 to 1847, and the Arctic coast near Victoria Island from
John Rae, Orkneyman and seasoned wilderness traveller, had qualified as a surgeon in Edinburgh in 1832, aged only 19; he had seen virtually all the ailments and injuries that were likely to afflict people in the inhospitable environment of the Arctic.
Oct 6, 2023 · Scott and Stevenson were invited to Rae’s home, Hall of Clestrain, which lay on the other side of the bay. Inside this elegant mansion they enjoyed the hospitality of Rae’s wife, Margaret Glen, and afterwards Rae and his guests cantered off on some of the family’s best Galloway horses in order to admire the Stones of Stenness.
Sep 26, 2024 · Rae was known for his ability to live off the land and for his remarkable physical strength; during his Arctic travels he walked more than 23,000 miles. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1880.
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John Rae, the Orkney man who befriended the Arctic, is one of our Great Scots. Read how the society is preserving his memory, celebrating his achievements and restoring his reputation.
