Dr. John Rae: A Scottish Hero
He Solved the Greatest Mystery in Arctic History and Then Was Erased From It
Dr. John Rae was a Scottish surgeon who became one of the most remarkable Arctic explorers of the 19th century, and one of its most unjustly forgotten. Between 1846 and 1854, Rae led four major Arctic expeditions, trekking, sailing, and canoeing more than 37,000 kilometres across some of the most unforgiving terrain on Earth.
His discovery of Rae Strait proved to be the final link in a navigable Northwest Passage, which was successfully used by Roald Amundsen in 1903–06. But it was another discovery that would define, and destroy his legacy. In 1854, Rae encountered Inuit hunters who produced artefacts from the lost Franklin Expedition and revealed that the final survivors had been driven to cannibalism. When he brought this news back to Britain, Lady Jane Franklin and Charles Dickens launched a campaign slandering the Inuit as probable murderers, and Rae, as a result, became the only major British explorer of his day never to receive a knighthood.
Unlike his peers, Rae was willing to adopt and learn the ways of indigenous Arctic peoples, which made him stand out as the foremost specialist of his time in cold-climate survival and travel, a quality that made him extraordinarily effective in the field, and deeply unpopular in the drawing rooms of Victorian England.
In this episode of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs, host Rich Napolitano tells the full story of Dr. John Rae: ship's surgeon, Arctic surveyor, Franklin expedition investigator, and one of history's most consequential figures hiding in plain sight.
Topics covered: Franklin Expedition, Northwest Passage, HMS Erebus, HMS Terror, Arctic exploration, Inuit history, Victorian maritime history, Hudson's Bay Company
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This episode was written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. Original theme music is by Sean Sigfried.
**No AI was used during the production of this episode.**
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Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is a maritime history podcast about shipwrecks, tragic loss, and incredible accomplishments on the world's oceans and waterways.
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