​FRANKLIN, Kt., K.C.H., K.R.G., D.C.L., F.R.S. (Captain, 1822. f-p., 28; h-p., 19.)

Sir John Franklin, horn in 1786, at Spilsbury, co. Lincoln, is brother of the late Sir Willingham Franklin, Kt., Chief-Justice at Madras.

This officer entered the Navy, 1 Oct. 1800, as a Boy, on board the Polyphemus 64, Capt. John Lawford, under whom he served as Midshipman in the action off Copenhagen 2 April, 1801. He then, in the Investigator sloop, Capt. Matthew Flinders, sailed on a voyage of discovery to New Holland, where, on joining the Porpoise armed store-ship, Lieut. -Commander Robt. Merrick Fowler, he was wrecked on a coral-reef near Cato Bank, 17 Aug. 1803. While afterwards on his passage home in the Earl Camden East Indiaman, commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Dance, the Commodore of a China fleet of 16 sail, Mr. Franklin appears to have had charge of the signals, and to have distinguished himself at the celebrated repulse of a powerful French squadron under Admiral Linois 15 Feb. 1804. Joining, on his arrival in England, the Bellerophon 74, Capts. John Loring, John Cooke, and Edw. Rotheram, he subsequently, under Capt. Cooke, took part in the battle of Trafalgar; and on that occasion, 21 Oct. 1805, we again find him superintending the Signal department, and evincing very conspicuous zeal and activity. On being next transferred to the Bedford 74, Capts. Adam Mackenzie and Jas. Walker, of which ship he was confirmed a Lieutenant 11 Feb. 1808, Mr. Franklin escorted the Royal Family of Portugal from Lisbon to South America. During the after part of the war he was chiefly employed at the blockade of Flushing; and he then, towards the close of 1814, joined in the expedition to New Orleans. On 14 Dec. in the same year he was slightly wounded, while leading the Bedford’s boats, in unison with those of a squadron, at the capture, on Lake Borgne, of five American gun-boats under Commodore Jones, which did not surrender until, after a desperate conflict, they had occasioned the British a total loss of 17 men killed and 77 wounded.^[1] During the attack on New Orleans Mr. Franklin assisted in conducting the indescribably arduous operation of cutting a canal across the entire neck of land between the Bayou Catalan and the Mississippi; and for his conduct on the morning of 8 Jan. 1815, when he commanded the small-arm men under Capt. Rowland Money at the brilliant defeat of a body of Americans strongly entrenched on the right bank of that river, he was officially and very warmly recommended for promotion. After serving for a short time during the summer of 1815 as First of the Forth 40, Capt. Sir Wm. Bolton, he assumed command, 14 Jan. 1818, of the hired brig Trent, in which he accompanied Capt. David Buchan of the Dorothea on a perilous voyage of discovery to the neighbourhood of Spitzbergen.^[2] In April, 1819, having paid off the Trent in the preceding Nov., he was invested with the conduct of an expedition destined to proceed overland from the shores of Hudson’s Bay for the purpose, more particularly, of ascertaining the actual position of the mouth of the Coppermine River and the exact trending of the shores of the Polar Sea to the eastward of that river. The details of that fearful undertaking, which endured until the summer of 1822, and in the course of which he reached as far as Point Turnagain, in lat. 68° 19' N. and long. 109° 25' W., and effected a journey altogether of 5550 miles, Capt. Franklin (whose Commander’s and Post commissions bear date respectively 1 Jan. 1821, and 20 Nov. 1822) has ably set forth in his ‘Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the Years 1819-22.’ On 16 Feb. 1825 this energetic officer again left England on another expedition to the Frozen Regions, having for its object a co-operation with Capts. Fred. Wm. Beechey and Edw. Wm. Parry in ascertaining from opposite quarters the existence of a north-west passage. The results of this mission, which terminated at Point Beechey, in lat. 70° 24' N., long. 149° 37' W., will also be found in Capt. Franklin’s ‘Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea in 1825-7.’ On his return to England, where he arrived 26 Sept. 1827, he was presented by the Geographical Society at Paris with a gold medal, valued at 1200 francs, as having made the most important acquisitions to geographical knowledge during the preceding year, and on 29 April, 1829, he received the honour of Knighthood, besides being awarded, in July following, the Oxford degree of a D.C.L. From 23 Aug. 1830, until paid off in Jan. 1834, he next commanded the Rainbow 28, on the Mediterranean station, for his exertions during which period as connected with the troubles in Greece he was presented with the order of the Redeemer of Greece. Sir John Franklin, who was created a K.C.H. 25 Jan. 1836, and was afterwards for some time Lieut.-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, has, as Captain of the Erebus discovery-ship, been engaged, since 3 March, 1845, in a fresh attempt to explore a north-west passage through Lancaster Sound and Bering Strait.

He married, first, 16 Aug. 1823, Eleanor Anne youngest daughter of Wm. Porden, Esq., Architect, of Berners Street, London; and secondly, 5 Nov. ​1828, the second daughter of John Griffin, Esq., ot Bedford Place. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.

FRANKLIN. (Lieutenant, 1842.)

John Franklin passed his examination 14 June, 1836; was for some time employed in South America as Mate of the Orestes 18, Capt. Peter Sampson Hambly; obtained his commission 7 March, 1842; and was appointed, a few days afterwards. Additional Lieutenant of the Queen 110, flag-ship of Sir Edw. W. C. K. Owen, in the Mediterranean, where, from 11 June in the same year, until Oct. 1844, he further served in the Snake 16, Capt. Hon. Walter Bourohier Devereux. He has been attached, since 8 Feb. 1847, to the Amphion steam-frigate, Capt. Woodford John Williams.

FRANKLING. (Retired Commander, 1844. f-p., 21; h-p., 33.)

Felix Frankling entered the Navy, 14 Aug. 1793, as A.B., on board the Falcon sloop, Capt. Jas. Bissett, of which vessel, stationed in the Channel and North Sea, he became Midshipman 17 Dec. following. After serving for some time off Newfoundland, as Midshipman of the Active 38, Capt. Thos. Wolley, he accompanied that officer, as Master’s Mate of the Arethusa 38, to the West Indies; where he appears to have assisted at the reduction of Ste. Lucie in May, 1796, also in quelling an insurrection among the inhabitants of St. Vincent and Grenada, and at the capture of Trinidad in 1797. On 10 Aug. in the latter year he further aided in taking La Gaieté corvette, of 20 guns. He obtained a Lieutenancy, 1 March, 1800, in the Tromp armée en flûte, Capt. Terence O’Neill, which vessel he subsequently commanded for a short time as a prison-ship at one of the Leeward islands. At the commencement of the peace of Amiens we find him serving in the Hornet, Capt. John Nash. He next held an appointment for 10 months in the Sea Fencibles at Southampton; was then employed from May, 1804, to Nov. 1807, on board the Amelia and Thalia frigates, Capts. Lord Proby and Jas. Walker, in the West Indies, East Indies, and North America; and, on the date last mentioned, assumed command of a Signal station, which he retained until 16 March, 1816. Having been on half-pay since that period, he at length accepted the rank of Retired Commander, on the Junior List, 7 Jan. 1833. His promotion to the Senior List took place 2 Sept. 1844.

Commander Frankling has a daughter married to Chas. Stark, Esq., Mathematical Instructor in H.M.S. Excellent.

FRANKLYN. (Lieutenant, 1807.)

George Franklyn entered the Navy, in the autumn of 1798, as A.B., on board the Eling schooner, Lieut.-Commander Wm. Peake, on the Home station; became Midshipman, in 1801, of the London 98, Capts. Robt. Waller Otway and Geo. Murray, attached to the fleet in the Baltic; and after serving for some time with Capt. Otway in the Edgar 74, and again with Lieut. Peake in the Escort gun-brig, joined the Lively 33, Capts. Graham Eden Hamond and Geo. M‘Kinley. On 5 Oct. 1804 the latter vessel assisted at the capture of three Spanish frigates laden with treasure, and the destruction of a fourth, off Cape St. Mary; and, on 29 May, 1805, she sustained a very spirited skirmish with a Spanish 74. Mr. Franklyn, who obtained a Lieutenancy, 7 Nov. 1807, in the Royalist 18, Capt. John Maxwell, was afterwards employed on the North Sea, Mediterranean, and American stations, in the Victorious 74, Capts. G. E. Hamond and Sir John Talbot – under the latter of whom, if we mistake not, he assisted at the capture of the French 74-gun ship Rivoli. He went on half-pay in 1814; but has been in command, since 5 July, 1836, of a station in the Coast Guard.

He married, 22 Jan. 1820, Barbara, daughter of the late John Duthman, Esq. Agent – J. Hinxman.

FRANKLYN. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 9; h-p., 32.)

John Franklyn died in 1846.

This officer entered the Navy, 26 July, 1806, as Midshipman, on board the Colossus 74, Capts. Jas. Nicoll Morris and Thos. Alexander; in the boats of which ship, after serving on the Lisbon and Mediterranean stations, he was taken prisoner in a gallant attack on an enemy’s flotilla off Isle d’Aix, 27 Dec. 1811. On his release, in 1814, he joined the Salvador del Mundo, and next, as Acting-Lieutenant and Admiralty-Midshipman, the Martial 12, Capt. Henry Forbes, and Hyperion 36, Capt. Wm. Pryce Cumby, on the Cork and Lisbon stations. From the receipt of his commission, which bore date 25 Feb. 1815, Lieut. Franklyn, who was then serving on board the Telegraph 12, Capt. Scriven, remained on half-pay.

He married, and had issue.

FRASER. (Commander, 1823. f-p., 23; h-p., 23.)

Charles Fraser entered the Navy, 2 May, 1801, as Midshipman, on board the Prince George 98, Capt. John Tremayne Rodd, bearing the flag in the Channel of Sir Chas. Cotton; removed successively, in 1802-3, to the Aurora 38, Capt. Micajah Malbon, and Russel 74, Capt. Robt. Williams; then rejoined Sir C. Cotton in the San Josef 110; and on 11 July, 1808, was confirmed to a Lieutenancy in the Argo 44, Capt. Stephen Thos. Digby. In command of the boats of the latter ship we find him, on 10 March, 1809, cutting out, in the most cool and gallant manner, and with a loss of 7 men wounded, the Josef French felucca, of 3 guns and 53 men, under a heavy fire of grape and musketry from the vessel herself, as well as from a whole range of batteries on the island of St. Domingo.^[3] In the course of the same year he became attached to the Shark sloop, and Polyphemus 64, bearing each the flag of Vice-Admiral Bartholomew Sam. Rowley; after which he served, from 7 Aug. 1812 until 5 July, 1816, in the Stag and Spartan frigates, both commanded by Capt. Phipps Hornby, with whom he visited the Cape of Good Hope and Mediterranean. His last appointments, as Lieutenant, were – 7 April, 1818, to the Bulwark 76, flag-ship at Chatham of Sir John Gore – and, 24 May, 1819, to the command of the Mermaid Revenue-cruizer. He assumed his present rank 29 Sept. 1823; and, since 10 Sept. 1844, has been conducting the Packet service at Holyhead, as Additional-Commander of the Royal Sovereign yacht.

He married, 25 July, 1832, Miss Mary Elizabeth Fraser, of Chichester, by whom he has issue. Agents – Pettet and Newton.

FRASER. (Lieut., 1821. f-p., 22; h-p., 15.)

George Fraser is youngest son of the late Gen. J. H. Fraser, of Ashling House, near Chichester, co. Sussex.

This officer entered the Navy, 11 Sept. 1810, as Midshipman, on board the Tonnant 80, Capt. Sir John Gore; under whom (with the exception of an interval of a few months in 1813, when we find his name borne on the books of the Elizabeth 74, Capt. Edw. Leveson Gower) he continued to serve, latterly in the Revenge 74, until July, 1814; during which period he assisted in the boats of the last-mentioned ship at the cutting out of a French privateer from the mole of Palamos, 8 Nov. 1813. Until July, 1816, he was next employed, also in the Mediterranean, on board the Crocus 10, Capt. John Stoddart, and Spartan 38, Capt. Phipps Hornby. In April, 1818, he rejoined Sir John Gore in the Bulwark 76, at Chatham; and from the close of the same year until his promotion, 1 Nov. 1821, he further served, on the South American and West India stations, in the Hyperion 42, Capt. Thos. Searle, and Sybille 48, flag-ship of Sir Chas. Rowley. He then joined the Pyramus 42, Capt. Fras. Newcome, but invalided home 26 Sept. 1822; and was subsequently appointed – 23 Nov. 1826, to the Prince Regent 120, flag-ship at the Nore of