IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0402 DJR
Held at: Royal Geographical Society
Title: RAE, Dr John (1813-1893)
Date(s): 1852-1883
Level of description: Collection level
Extent: 1 box and 4 files
Name of creator(s): Rae | John | 1813-1893 | Arctic explorer
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born, 1813; studied medicine at Edinburgh, 1829; licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 1833; surgeon of the Hudson's Bay Company's ship Prince of Wales, Jun 1833; surgeon at Moose Factory, the company post on James Bay, 1834-1844; lead an expedition to complete the survey of the northern coastline of North America, 1844-1847; chief trader, 1847; joined Sir John Richardson to search for Sir John Franklin, 1848-1849; chief factor, 1850; resumed the search for Franklin at the Admiralty's request, 1851; founder's gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), 1852; Fellow of the RGS, 1853-1893; led expedition to complete the survey of the north coast of America along the west coast of the Boothia peninsula, 1853-1854 - on this expedition he was the first to hear news of Franklin's fate; retired, 1856; served on the Council of the RGS on four occasions; died, 1893.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of Dr John Rae, 1852-1883, including drafts of eleven letters, 1852-1856, addressed to the Admiralty and others on Arctic exploration; letter to H W Feilden, 19 Apri 1878; six short essays on Arctic subjects including 'On certain phenomena observed on the Arctic coast', and on treatment of frostbite; nine letters to Rae from various correspondents, 1855-1883 and diary on board the screw yacht FOX on a north Atlantic voyage, Jul-Nov 1860.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
As outlined in Scope and Content.
Conditions governing access:
Accessed via the Foyle Reading Room. Free of charge for Fellows, Members and those with valid academic identification. All other users pay a charge and must bring identification in order to register on arrival.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Photocopying at the discretion of the Archivist and subject to completion of 'application for copies' form. No reproduction or publication without permission of the RGS-IBG Archivist.
Finding aids:
Card index available in the Foyle Reading Room.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Unknown
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Prepared by an Archives volunteer using existing finding aids. Revised by Sarah Drewery.
Sources: Oxford DNB; Obit. Geog. Jnl. 1893, Vol. 2 pages 275-276.
Date(s) of descriptions: 5 July 2001; Jul 2008