The Crozier memo in the Fram Museum: A proposed dating
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| The Crozier memo on display in the Fram Museum (my photo) |
The text of the brief note (my transcription) is as follows:
My dear Ross
I am glad to find our
Pilot agrees with yours he had
been telling me he thought it
would be better to hold on till
after Mid: but if you wished to
go there were plenty of places
to bring up - The measured
distance from Point [?] to water
Edge 109. ^ft^ 8 inches
- 4.8
approx. 105 feet
Ever yours truly
F.R.M. Crozier
(The calculation transcribed in green was added later, likely by Ross.)
In terms of dating the memo, its contents don't provide a lot of identifying information, but some of the circumstances around its writing can be inferred.
First, and perhaps most usefully, the mention of pilots indicates that the note stems from the Expedition's arrival at, or departure from, one of the more populous stopping-points on the voyage, like for instance Hobart or Sydney, where pilots could be had.
Second, the references to "holding on" versus "going" suggest that the ships were leaving harbour, rather than arriving.
Third, the note must have been written when the ships were close in company, as they were sending notes back and forth by boat. Though obvious, this already narrows the field, as well as provides a further argument for the note referring to a departure: the Erebus and Terror notoriously struggled to keep company and more often than not reached their rendezvous points separately, but always departed at the same time.
It further appears that both ships had had their pilots on board for some time, as Terror's pilot had "been telling" Crozier what he thought. This, and the use of memos in the first place, indicates that there may have been a delay, where the ships lay for some time at anchor.
Also helpful is the abbreviation "Mid:", which is typically used in the sense of "midnight" in the logs. The reference to potentially "holding on" until after midnight suggests that the ships most likely departed harbour either late at night or in the early morning.
And finally, it's likely, though not absolutely certain, that the note was written prior to June 1841. Olga Kimmins' timeline of the Antarctic Expedition memos indicates that Crozier began addressing his Ross letters "Dear John" about that date, and likely continued to do so throughout the voyage, which would make a later dating for the Fram Museum memo not impossible, but statistically less probable.
Using Ross' published account, the ships' logs, and the journals of Cunningham and McCormick, I had a look at most of the stops the Expedition made (a list of the dates I checked and ruled out is at the end of the post, if anyone is interested), and it turns out there are actually very few departures or arrivals which fit most of the criteria I've listed above: only two, in fact.
The first is very early indeed: late September 1839, before the Expedition had even left England.
After leaving Gillingham, the Erebus and Terror anchored in Margate Roads on, respectively, the 26th and 27th of September, 1839. Both ships' logs begin with September 26th, but Ross' official account
states that they had picked up a pilot when they passed Sheerness on the 25th (Vol. I p. 2). Most likely, Terror had done the same.
They were then detained in Margate Roads by adverse winds for several days, providing ample time for communication between the ships. Though Terror had initially anchored 3 miles away from Erebus, on the 28th she shifted her anchorage to half a mile away, which would have made it very practicable to send notes back and forth on either the 28th, 29th, or 30th.
Favourable winds arose at 5 pm on the 30th, and both ships weighed anchor at 6.30 pm. The logs of both ships report discharging their respective pilots late in the evening that same day (ADM 55/133 ff. 22-24; 55/48 ff. 2-6).
With this date, however, there is an obvious problem about the timing. With the logs recording favourable winds arising in the afternoon and both ships weighing anchor at six in the evening, there is no reason why either ship's pilot would suggest waiting to depart until after midnight. Even if one reads Crozier's note to the effect that his pilot had been of that opinion but had since changed his mind, the problem remains that there is no apparent reason why he should have suggested it in the first place.If we rule out September 1839, we are left with only one other candidate: the Expedition's first departure from Hobart, in early November of 1840.
Here, the ship's log for Terror tells us that their pilot, a Mr. James Lucas, came on board on November 10th. Due to adverse winds, however, the Expedition was detained for two days, and both ships weighed anchor on the 12th, at 5.30 in the morning (ADM 55/133 ff. 447-449; ADM 55/49/177).
Unusually, Erebus' log does not mention a pilot at all these three days. But McCormick's journal for the 12th registers that "our pilot left us" at 1.30 pm, when Governor Sir John Franklin, who had accompanied the ships some way down the Derwent, left the Erebus to pay a visit to Terror (McCormick 1884 p. 128). Terror's log likewise notes that they discharged their own pilot at 2.20 pm, when Sir John Franklin took his leave of that ship, and the Government schooner parted company with the Expedition.
It's likely that the Erebus' pilot, like Terror's, had come on board on November 10th, when the ships were originally scheduled to depart. In other words, both ships likely had their pilots on board for two days before weighing anchor, which is plenty of time for the captains to solicit their respective pilots' opinions, and then to confer about them.
According to McCormick, however, the officers of both ships, with Sir John Franklin, dined aboard Erebus on the 10th (1884 p. 127), which would render a note on that day unnecessary. This means if Crozier's memo was sent on this occasion, it was likely on the 11th—perhaps late in the evening, when it would have been less practical for either captain to just visit the other ship.
On a closer look, it appears that this may actually have been the case: Erebus' log for the 11th registers southerly (that is, unhelpful) winds all day except for 9-10 pm and midnight, when it shifted to the north, with a calm at 11 pm. A note at 11.30 pm reads, "Up Gig," suggesting that Ross was making preparations for imminent departure.
We have no reference, either in Cunningham's journal or the logs, to a boat coming or going at this time: the note of the gig is the only reference to a boat on the 11th. This may just possibly mean that the gig was used for mail delivery on this occasion and then secured after Ross had received Crozier's reply. Or it may be that the boat traffic was simply not mentioned, perhaps due to the bustle of preparation.
No signals were made to Terror that evening, but the following day at 5.15 am Erebus' signals log reads "To Terror: Preparation" (ADM 55/3162). It seems reasonable to assume that Crozier had had some intimation of Ross' intention to sail before that, since both ships weighed anchor only fifteen minutes later.
Here, in other words, the timing makes a lot more sense—admirable sense, in fact. With favourable winds coming up only in the last three hours of the day, after days of waiting and with the Expedition sitting on the threshold of its first Antarctic season, one may easily imagine that Ross would be happy to weigh anchor immediately, despite the late hour, if the pilots thought it advisable. As both pilots apparently did not, departure was delayed until very early the next morning.
While it is perhaps not definite, until any contradicting evidence should come to light, we can probably assume with some confidence that the Fram Museum memo was written on November 11th 1840, sometime between 9 pm and midnight. This dating also slots nicely into the proposed timeline of Crozier's addresses for Ross.
The very last point which should be briefly mentioned is the reference in the note to a "measured distance" between some Point and the water's edge. What this measurement was in aid of is entirely opaque to me (if anyone has an explanation, I would love to hear it!), but it is possible that it was related to surveying or tide observations in some way, in which case it at least does not speak against the note being written at Hobart.
* I owe a thanks to Susie Morello, who pointed out that the later addition to the memo was probably Ross', which I'd omitted to mention.
Stops of the Antarctic Expedition which I checked and ruled out:
- Madeira 1839: the ships arrived 4 days apart (Ross 1847 vol. I pp. 5-8)
- St. Helena 1840: no pilot (ADM 55/48/154)
- Cape of Good Hope (Simon's Bay) 1840: the ships arrived 2 days apart (Cunningham pp. 47-48)
- Arrival Hobart 1840: the ships arrived 2 days apart (Cunningham pp. 59-61).
- Arrival
Hobart 1841: pilots came on board around 9am and they anchored in the
afternoon (ADM 55/50/133)
- Arrival Sydney 1841: pilots came on board at noon and the ships were immediately towed into the harbour (Ross 1847 vol. II p. 35)
- Departure Sydney 1841: pilot came on board at 7.45am and the ship sailed at 11am (ADM 55/50/281)
- New Zealand 1841: no pilots were used at any point (ADM 55/50 ff. 294; 418)
- Falklands 1842: ditto (ADM 55/51 ff. 123; 305; 390; 428)
- Simon's Bay 1843: ditto (ADM 55/52 ff. 125; 143)
- Brief stops at St. Helena and Ascension: ditto (ADM 55/52 ff. 163; 170; 175; 179)
- Rio 1843: ditto (ADM 55/52 ff. 208; 215)
Sources:
Logs of the Erebus, kept by C. F. Tucker:
26 Sep 1839 - 30 Jun 1840. The National Archives, London, ADM 55/48
Available at: https://archive.ceda.ac.uk/cgi-bin/corral/view_images/a=55/l=48/p=1/
1 July 1840 - 31 Dec 1840. The National Archives, London, ADM 55/49
Available at: https://archive.ceda.ac.uk/cgi-bin/corral/view_images/a=55/l=49/p=1/
1 Jan - 31 Dec 1841. The National Archives, London, ADM 55/50
Available at: https://archive.ceda.ac.uk/cgi-bin/corral/view_images/a=55/l=50/p=1/
1 Jan - 31 Dec 1842. The National Archives, London, ADM 55/51
Available at: https://archive.ceda.ac.uk/cgi-bin/corral/view_images/a=55/l=51/p=1/
1 Jan 1843 - 23 Sep 1843. The National Archives, London, ADM 55/52
Available at: https://archive.ceda.ac.uk/cgi-bin/corral/view_images/a=55/l=52/p=1/
Log of the Erebus (Commander J. Ross), 10 April 1839 - 31 December 1840. The National Archives, London, ADM 51/3162.
Available at: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1566990806/view
Log of the Terror, 20 May 1839 - 30 Nov 1840. The National Archives, London, ADM 55/133.
Available at: https://archive.ceda.ac.uk/cgi-bin/corral/view_images/a=55/l=133/p=1/
Campbell, R. J. ‘The Voyage of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror to the Southern and Antarctic Regions. Captain James Clark Ross, R.N. 1839–1843. The Journal of Sergeant William K. Cunningham, R.M. of HMS Terror’. In The Journal of the Hakluyt Society, April 2009, pp. 1–186.
Available from the Hakluyt Society website: https://www.hakluyt.com/journal-of-the-hakluyt-society/
McCormick, Robert. 1884. Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas, and Around the World. London, Sampson Low.
Available online via HathiTrust: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015018392699
Ross, James Clark. 1847. A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions during the Years 1839-43. Vols. I-II. London, John Murray. Reprint: 2011. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Kimmins,
Olga. 2022a. "Letters at Sea, Pt. 1." The Thousandth Part.
https://www.thethousandthpart.com/notes/letters-at-sea-part-one
Kimmins, Olga. 2022b. "Letters at Sea, Pt. 2." The Thousandth Part. https://www.thethousandthpart.com/notes/letters-at-sea-part-two