Beechey Island

Beechey Island

Beechey Island Location in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Geography
Location	Northern Canada
Coordinates	74°43′N 091°51′W / 74.717°N 91.850°WCoordinates: 74°43′N 091°51′W / 74.717°N 91.850°W
Archipelago	Queen Elizabeth Islands Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Area	4.6 km^2 (1.8 sq mi)
Highest elevation	198 m (650 ft)
Highest point	Un-named
Administration
Canada
Territory	Nunavut
Demographics
Population	Uninhabited
Additional information
National Historic Site of Canada
Official name	Beechey Island Sites National Historic Sites of Canada
Designated	1993

Beechey Island is an island located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada, in Wellington Channel. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait.^[1] Other features include Wellington Channel, Erebus Harbour,^[2] and Terror Bay.

The first European to visit the island was in 1819 by Captain William Edward Parry and was named after the artist William Beechey (1753–1839) by his son Frederick William Beechey (1796–1856) who was then serving as Parry's lieutenant.^[3]

It is the site of several very significant events in the history of Arctic exploration. In 1845, the British explorer Sir John Franklin, commanding a new but ill-fated search for the Northwest Passage aboard HMSs Erebus and Terror, chose the protected harbor of Beechey Island for his first winter encampment. The site was not discovered until 1851 when British and American search vessels anchored nearby.

Beechey Island in 2004. Grave sites are visible in foreground.

They found a large stone cairn, along with the graves of three of Franklin's crew -- Petty Officer John Torrington, Royal Marine Private William Braine, and Able Seaman John Hartnell—but no written record or indication of where Franklin planned to sail the next season. In 1850 Edward Belcher used the island as a base. There are memorials to Franklin and other polar explorers and sailors on the island, including Joseph René Bellot.^[4]

In 1903, paying respect to Franklin, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen stopped at the island at the beginning of his successful voyage in search for the Northwest Passage.

In the 1980s, Canadian forensic anthropologist Dr. Owen Beattie examined the three bodies, finding them to be (externally) remarkably well-preserved. Autopsies determined that lung disease and lead poisoning were among the probable causes of death; the lead appeared to come from the thousands of lead-soldered tins of provisions with which the Franklin expedition had been supplied (though later studies would suggest that the unique water distillation system used by the ships was the major source of lead poisoning).

Beechey Island in relation to Devon Island and Cornwallis island

Beechey Island was declared to be a "Territorial Historic Site" by the government of the Northwest Territories in 1975. Since 1999, it has been part of the newly created Canadian territory of Nunavut.^[5]

In 1993, five archaeological sites on Beechey Island and nearby Devon Island (the Franklin wintering camp of 1845-46, Northumberland House, the Devon Island site at Cape Riley, two message cairns and the HMS Breadalbane National Historic Site) were designated as the "Beechey Island Sites" National Historic Site of Canada.^[6]

In fiction, the explorers in Jules Verne's novel Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras visit Beechey Island. In addition, Clive Cussler's 2008 novel, Arctic Drift, featured characters that would visit this island in the quest for Franklin's ships. Also mentioned in Dan Simmons' novel, The Terror.

References

1. "Beechy Island, Barrow Strait, Nunavut". mobilegeographics.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
2. "Beechy Island". google.com. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
3. Parry, W.E. (1821). Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-west Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific: Performed in the Years 1819-20, in His Majesty's Ships Hecla and Griper, Under the Orders of William Edward Parry ; with an Appendix, Containing the Scientific and Other Observations. 1. John Murray. p. 51. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
4. Brian D. Powell (2006). "The memorials on Beechey Island, Nunavut, Canada: an historical and pictorial survey.". Polar Record. 42 (223): 325–333. doi:10.1017/S0032247406005596.
5. Beechey Island. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
6. Beechey Island Sites National Historic Site of Canada. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 29 October 2013.

• The Columbia Gazetteer of North America

External links

• Beechey Island in the Atlas of Canada - Toporama; Natural Resources Canada