![]() ![]() Since the mid-19th century, skeletal remains of dozens of crew members have been found on King William Island, but none had been positively identified. In April 1848, 105 survivors abandoned their ice-trapped ships in a desperate escape attempt. Sir John Franklin's 1845 northwest passage expedition, with 129 sailors on two ships, Erebus and Terror, entered the Arctic in 1845. "The whole Gregory family is extremely grateful to the entire research team for their dedication and hard work, which is so critical in unlocking pieces of history that have been frozen in time for so long." ![]() "Having John Gregory's remains being the first to be identified via genetic analysis is an incredible day for our family, as well as all those interested in the ill-fated Franklin expedition," said Gregory's great-great-great grandson Jonathan Gregory of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. "We now know that John Gregory was one of three expedition personnel who died at this particular site, located at Erebus Bay on the southwest shore of King William Island," says Douglas Stenton, adjunct professor of anthropology at Waterloo and co-author of a new paper about the discovery. The remains of the officer were found on King William Island, Nunavut. The results matched a DNA sample obtained from a direct descendant of Gregory. This is the first member of the ill-fated expedition to be positively identified through DNA.ĭNA extracted from tooth and bone samples recovered in 2013 were confirmed to be the remains of Warrant Officer John Gregory, engineer aboard HMS Erebus. The identity of the skeletal remains of a member of the 1845 Franklin expedition has been confirmed using DNA and genealogical analyses by a team of researchers from the University of Waterloo, Lakehead University, and Trent University. Image: Facial reconstruction of individual identified through DNA analysis as John Gregory, HMS Erebus view moreĬredit: Diana Trepkov/ University of Waterloo
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