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Object connections:
| Collection | Franklin relics, Polar Equipment and Relics |
|---|---|
| Gallery location | Not on display |
| People | Provenance: Peglar, Henry Peter Provenance: Armitage, Thomas |
| Events | Arctic Exploration: Franklin's Last Expedition, 1845-1848, Arctic Exploration: Franklin Search Expedition, McClintock, 1857-1859 |
| Vessels | Fox (1855) |
Object details:
| Object ID | AAA2115 |
|---|---|
| Description | A folding pocket horn comb from the 1845 British Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The comb contained some light brown hair (not evident now, 2021) and both Peglar and Armitage had brown hair. The comb is in a very warped lacquer case with a shaped plaque missing from the side. The pocket comb was found near the skeleton located about nine miles east of Cape Herschel by Captain F. L. McClintock's sledge team on 25 May 1859, as part of the search expedition led by him from the 'Fox'. McClintock described finding a skeleton 'lying upon its face'. Initially the skeleton was identified as Henry Peter Peglar (1811-1848), Captain of the Foretop, HMS Terror, due to the contents of the pocket book relating to Peglar. However, it is now believed to be that of his friend Thomas Armitage (c1807-1848), Gunroom Steward from HMS Terror. McClintock recorded 'We found, also, a clothes-brush near, and a horn pocket comb.'. [McClintock, Voyage of the Fox (1858), page 275]. The comb was displayed at the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, Case 2, No. 32. 'Pocket comb'. The item is also shown in - 'Stereoscopic slides of the relics of Sir John Franklin's Expedition' photographed by Lieutenant Cheyne RN, at the United Services Museum, Whitehall, No. 3. |
| Date made | before 1845 |
| Artist/Maker | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Credit | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. |
| Materials | horn |
| Measurements | 89 x 32 x 13 mm |
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