Flinders Monument Stamford Hill

In writing the earlier portion of this article and particularly with that part dealing with the life of Sir John and Lady Franklin, I was faced with the problem as to whether Lady Franklin died before or after the monument to her husband had been unveiled. Some writers gave it one way and others the reverse. A search to ascertain the truth has revealed quite a lot of information about Lady Franklin and the monument in Westminster Abbey. I am glad to have this opportunity to add to what has been previously written. But first let it be said that Lady Franklin died on January 18, 1875, and the monument was unveiled on Saturday, July 31, 1875.

Usually Sir John gets the credit for the erection of the obelisk on Stamford Hill. In Nathaniel Hailes' account it will have been noticed that he said it was erected at Lady Franklin's expense. I let that pass without comment. Now in the following it will be seen that almost the same statement is made. Like the devoted wife she was, she was content that Sir John should get the credit. It now seems that it devolves on us to give credit where credit is due — that is to Lady Franklin.

The following information has been gathered from the London "Times" and the "Illustrated London News" of July and August 1875. Sir John Franklin in command of the Erebus and Terror left England May, 1845, on an Arctic expedition, "from that expedition no man has ever returned, but through the long years which have followed, the widow's life has been one increasing effort to solve the mystery of their fate and to bring to light the details of their deeds and their sufferings."

We know too little of Sir John and his Lady, to whom Port Lincoln is so much indebted. I have tried to deal with Sir John in the earlier part and now will deal with Lady Frank lin, the prime mover in the erection of the monument.

A GREAT TRAVELLER

Lady Jane Franklin was the second daughter of John Guillemard, whose family took refuge in England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV on October 22, 1685. It was probable that from these ancestors she derived the steadfastness and tenacity of purpose for which she was renowned. She had an uncle, John Guillemard, a man of great and varied power of mind, who was one of the Boundary Commissioners for settling the territorial question after the American War of Independence, and Jane was a great favorite of his. As a child she was shy, but had a keen thirst for knowledge and one paper said she had been around the world in her teens, while the other paper starts her travelling at the age of 22, when, with her father, who was a great traveller— she visited the continent immediately after the peace of Ameins, going to Genoa, then to Naples and was there at the time of Napolean's escape from Elba.

The couple returned to Genoa, remaining there during the winter of 1815-16. In subsequent years she travelled with her father in Germany, Bohemia, Denmark, Norway and Holland. Afterwards to Spain, St. Petersburg and Moscow, which trip immediately preceded her marriage on November 5, 1828. In Paris immediately after her marriage, Sir John and Lady Franklin were honored by King Louis Philippe in recollection of is former friend ship with Lady Franklin's uncle, John Guillemard.

Franklin having commissioned the frigate Rainbow in 1830, his wife joined him afterwards in the Mediterranean, where her winters were passed in Malta or Corfu. At this time she ascended the Nile to the second cataract, also visiting Sinai, Jerusalem and Greece. They returned to England a year prior to Sir John receiving the appointment as Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land. Lady Franklin had travelled the greater part of Europe, so now we will see that she was equally desirous of seeing the new continent.

The "Times" wrote, "amidst the multifarious duties of her position, she found time to visit almost all parts of that beautiful island (Tasmania). In 1839 she crossed over to the then infant colony of Port Phillip (now Victoria) and was the first lady who travelled overland from Melbourne to Sydney. This journey of many hundred miles, lay for the post part through an unsettled region as yet occupied only by the earliest squatters and the aborigines of the country. She subsequently visits the now colony of South Australia, the scene of her husband's labors, when, as a midshipman some 35 years before he had served with his commander and cousin (?) Matthew Flinders. While here she visited the conspicuous hill from which Flinders had discovered and taken possession of that fine territory, and on this spot she subsequently placed a monument to that bold and skilful though long neglected navigator. After visiting New Zealand, Lady Franklin sailed early in 1844 (late in 1843 ?) with her husband for England.

ILL-FATED ARCTIC EXPEDITION

Shortly after their return to England, Sir John was offered, and accepted the command of the H.M.S. Erebus and Terror, and sailed from England for the last time on May 18, 1845. In the autumn of that year Lady Franklin visited Madeira for the health of her stepdaughter, Eleanor, and with the same object in the spring of 1846 she visited the West Indies, returning home by the way of the United States. Eleanor was, as has been told, married to Rev. J. P. Bell of Notting Hut; presumably the Rev. gentleman had by this time returned from Van Diemen's Land. The young wife died in 1860.

By 1848 uneasiness was felt as regards the fate of the expedition, owing to their long delayed return, so search parties were sent out by land and sea. Thence "the following years were occupied in unceasing efforts to stimulate in others and to carry out by herself (Lady Franklin) the search for her husband and his companions," said the "Times." "All who were engaged in that work will remember that hers was the guiding inspiration which penetrated every class among the searchers."

She was certain that on the route marked out for him, the last remains or relics would be found. She was confident that Sir John would only read his duty in the instructions laid down. The last Government search party returned in 1854, and in the same year Dr. Rae learnt from the Eskimos of the disaster, and obtained relics of the party. The Admiralty Board would not send out another party, so Lady Franklin, embarked once more on a private enterprise for the attainment of her object. As captain of the Fox she was fortunate enough to get a great Arctic explorer, afterwards Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock. The Fox returned to England in the autumn of 1859, bringing the first definite account of the disaster which overtook the expedition and the record of Sir John's death and that of nine officers and fifteen men, and of the desperate effort at escape in which, it was afterwards learnt, all the rest of the party perished. Lady Franklin was not at home to receive the sad tidings, having been ordered south after a severe illness, however, "she shared in the honors bestowed upon those who had achieved the object of her life in being the first woman upon whom the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society was conferred, a distinction extended since only to the late Mrs. Somerville. It was given to Lady Franklin in recognition both of her husband's discovery of the North-West Passage and of those efforts of her own which had been the means of ascertaining his achievement."

Lady Franklin had left for warmer climate in 1858. "A course," it was said, "which from prudence as well as inclination she continued to pursue during her remaining years." On this occasion she visited Algeria and Tunis, thence to Athens and after a short stay their "she proceeded to Constantinople for the fulfillment of her special object in returning to the east, namely, a visit to the battlefields of Crimea." Starting from Odessa she visited all points of interest in the Crimea, returning to England by way of Varna and the Danube. The return of the Fox in 1859 having released her from her engrossing suspense, the next two years were spent in distant lands, the Americas, New York, thence to Canada, being present when the then Prince of Wales opened the Victoria Railway Bridge at Montreal, then on a long sea voyage, via Rio Janeiro, Magellan Straits to San Francisco, and still onwards to Vancouver Island and British Columbia. The American Civil War rendering the return to England via the Panama inadvisable she proceeded to the Sandwich islands, where three months were spent. I fancy she returned to California, and visited Nevada, and then the homeward voyage was made by way of Japan, China, Straits Settlements, Calcutta and Egypt.

MEMORIAL IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY

In the interval between 1863 and 1872, she travelled in various parts of India, Ceylon, Italy, Spain, Teneriffe and the west coast of Africa. She also made a voyage to Chili and other parts of the west coast of South America, and another visit to San Francisco, going as far as Alaska, returning to San Francisco and then overland per the Pacific Railway, visiting Salt Lake City en route. This journey was said to have taken place in her 80th year. Subsequently she restricted her journeys to Spain and South of France. I have tried to follow the "Times" account as faithfully as possible, to show what an indefatigable traveller she was, so that her trip to South Australia was nothing out of the usual, and could have been taken without any special object except her desire to see other lands. It is difficult to get years, events and some of the trips to run evenly, thus the trip about the time of the peace of Amiens and then visiting Naples at the time of napoleon's escape from Elba. It may be Amiens has been inserted inadvertently, however, these inconsistencies should not detract from the wonderful account of travels by an ardent traveller.

"The latest act of her life was the completion of her husband's monument in Westminster Abbey, her failing power drooped at last over the endeavor to finish his epitaph and this duty passed into the friendly hands of a near kinsman by marriage, the Poet Laureate." (As I am writing this article, the wireless is repeating that wonderful service in Westminster Abbey the crowning of King George VI, May 12, 1937.— J.D.S.). On Saturday afternoon or evening, July 31, 1875, there was another service in Westminster Abbey, no cheering crowd, no music, no service, only a simple request, a simple deed, the unveiling of the memorial to Sir John Franklin. Shortly after the close of the ordinary church service, about 60 or 70 persons were admitted into the chapel of St. John. Among those present in addition to relatives, were Sir George Back, who had been in three expeditions with Franklin, and Captain Hobson who as a lieutenant on the Fox found Sir John's despatches. When the relatives had arrived, Dean Stanley asked Sir George Back to remove the plain white covering which had hung over the monument, not a word was spoken in response to the Dean's request, the cloth was removed. The monument was too poignant for any speech or any remarks. A great man was honored, a fortnight after the death of his beloved widow. The sculptured picture stood and we hope still stands in what was known as Nightingale Chapel, a place formerly screened off into three chapels, those of St. Andrew, St. Michael and St. John the evangelist. It took the name of Nightingale from a monument in which death is depicted as having issued from a cellar and in the act of casting his dart at the figure of a dying child. It was in that portion, St John, that the new memorial was placed. To make room, a memorial to Admiral Totting who had died in 1802 was shifted slightly to allow the new memorial to a brother sailor to stand in company.

INSCRIPTION ON MONUMENT

The "Times" description stated that "the new monument is by Noble, from designs by Sir Gilbert Scott. Beneath an elaborate canopy is what is termed a statuary bust, in Carara marble, of the explorer, wearing his medals and orders on his breast. His face has a firm and kindly expression. The bust bears the one word "Franklin." Under is a marble picture of a ship bound in the ice of the Arctic regions, bearing above it the words : —

'O ye frost and cold,
O ye ice and snow ;
Praise ye the Lord ;
praise Him and magnify Him for ever !

The eye then rests upon these lines:

' Not here : the White North has thy bones ;
and Thou, Heroic Sailor —
Soul Art passing on thine happier voyage now,
Towards no earthly pole.'

These lines are followed by the name 'Tennyson.' "

(The previous quotation of this verse was not quite right. The words are so exquisite they can stand repetition here, and will keep the wording of the memorial altogether, the same remark applies to Dean Stanley's addition to the memorial.)

"On the right side of the monument is this inscription : — 'To the memory of Sir John Franklin, born April 16, 1786, at Spilsby, Lincolnshire, died June 11, 1847, off Point Victory, in the Frozen Ocean, the beloved chief of the crews who perished with him in completing the discovery of the North-West Passage.' "

The "Illustrated London News" states that some of the words were "chief of the gallant crew," instead of those mentioned by the "Times" it is difficult to reconcile the many versions of memorial tablets. The "Times" account proceeds :—"on the other side of the legend runs— 'This monument was erected by Jane, his beloved widow, who after long waiting and sending many in search of him, herself departed to find him in the realms of Light, July 18, 1875, aged 83 years.' Those present at the unveiling simply admired the monument in silence. On leaving, all who had known the late Admiral declared the bust to be a most faithful likeness. It was said of it 'It is a most spirited and striking head, full of power ; and the sculptor has given great character and significance to his subject by representing him looking earnestly out as if searching for some distant shore."

Lady Franklin appealed to people. Reference has been previously made of remarks made by Australian writers. The "Times" obituary tribute is equally glowing: — "A highly developed critical faculty and delicate discernment had ever distinguished her mind. But she was still more distinguished by the strong will and clear reason which searched unflinchingly, yet reverently into every region of thought ; and she was possessed of a deep and abiding sympathy for those who did the like. The singular influence over those who shared her own advantages of culture and experience was not more remarkable than the ascendency which her practical spirit exerted over the young and uninformed. She had a wonderful perception of the needs of others, whether mental or material."

It seems that Port Lincoln and South Australia will have to reconstruct their ideas as to the erection of this Stamford Hill monument, and give greater praise and honor to Lady Franklin for the work she performed.

The next article will deal with the monument to Pieter Nuyts at Streaky Bay.