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John Rae charted the final stretch of the long sought north west passage - which became known as Rae Strait. A four-man team is to retrace a famous journey by Orkney's 19th Century Arctic explorer ...
- 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...
Jul 18, 2024 · This guide will explore the life of John Rae, his work with the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the local landmarks that keep his memory alive. The Life of John Rae Early Life in Orkney. John Rae was born in 1813 in the small parish of Orphir, Orkney. His upbringing on these windswept islands played a significant role in shaping the man he would ...
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 1848 to 1851.
Oct 1, 2017 · Dr John Rae who mapped huge areas of Arctic coastline is posthumously granted the Freedom of Orkney. ... The way it should have been when he was alive." ... Orkney grants freedom to dead explorer.
Rae also 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 attempt to stay alive. He returned to London with the sad news of the fate of Sir John Franklin and the crews of his two ships, only to enter a storm of controversy.
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Jul 6, 2017 · A RENOWNED Arctic explorer has been awarded the Freedom of Orkney, more than 120 years after his death. Orphir-born John Rae had the award bestowed upon him by local councillors, who commended his “quite remarkable” achievements at a meeting of Orkney Islands Council in Kirkwall. One of nine children, Rae was born on September 30, 1813.
