WOMEN IN THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION? - I KNEW IT!!

We live in a strange world, but not less strange than the world which preceded us.

There is in course a new investigation which tries to identify, through the analisys of the DNA samples obtained from the bones of the men of the Franklin expedition found in King William island, who actually were those men. There is not a short number of descendants of those men whose DNA would serve to correlate the results.

From this analisys have arisen certain shocking results which are hitting with some spectacularity the headlines of some pieces of news. Apparently there is a chance that there were women in that expedition. It has been discarded the possibility that those bones could belong any Inuit woman who could have eventually deceased in the area, so, according to the age of the bones found and their european origins, they only could have belonged to a participant of the Franklin expedition. 

From what I have read, the analysis of these evidences can´t be conclusive one hundred percent because it is not easy to ascertain the age or even the gender of certain DNA samples, specially if they have been exposed to the elements as it has been the case. So, in default of a better approach, is  advisable to be prudent in front of these news.

And now it comes the part I like more. Three years ago, in october of 2014, I played with the idea of women participating in the Franklin expedition. I wonder to myself, Why not? They had been penetrating in the ranks of the Royal Navy inadvertedly year after year.  My exact words were:

"How many times have we heard or read this sentence or similar others like this?: 

"In 1845 the one hundred and twenty nine men of the Franklin expedition dissapeared in the Arctic and were never seen again".

Could we assert this fact and be one hundred percent sure we are right? or perhaps should we consider the possibility that the composition of the expedition was in fact one hundred and twenty eight men and a woman? Could we say that each one of the  components of the Franklin expedition was a man?"

You can read the whole post here, where I run through the most known cases of women enroling into the crews of Royal Navy ships.

Cabin girl post

Now, though I would like to say to the world that universal phrase: "I TOLD YOU", I am quite sure this is only one of this games science plays with us, and that it will be soon proved that any women or girl had participated ever in the expedition, I am proud of thinking that I was a "discoverer" (or diviner) of something related with the Franklin expedition. It is not exactly that I was possesed by any evil spirit which showed me the light or that I was visited by any well informed ghost, like that experience endured by Weasy Coppin´s sister. It is more that I like to explore any possibilities before discarding any idea no matter how improbable could it seems (reductio ad absurdum), a little bit like Henry Fonda did in "12 Angry men" trying to convince all his jury mates about the inocence of the accused, if you can´t prove he is guilty, then he is innocent, if we can´t prove all of the men of the Franklin expedition were men, then there is a chance one or maybe more could be a woman. 

I will keep on dreaming someone is going to award me for this deduction I came across three years ago, hopefully with some medals (arctic medals preferibly) and that I would be given a warm and hearty farewell while walking out of the Arctic-Council hall-room of a virtual Admiralty, among applauses, cheers and hoorays for my services in favour of the cause. 

Kristina Gehrman, a fervent Franklinite author of a comic about the ill-fated expedition, suggested that the chances of that happening should  be shallow, because in her opinion, physical examination was expected to be conducted thoroughly and in detail for those Arctic expeditions which were supposed to be isolated for years far from any chance to send home sick men. So it would have been strange any women or girl could have escaped that checking. That is a very good and reasonable point.

I am not so sure, though. And here glides the shadow of the doubt.  Many men were recruited under the influence of officers with who they had formerly sailed, and maybe those skipped the medical examination. Besides, it wasn´t uncommon that men were enroled already suffering of consumption, illness which they use to conceal to the board in order to prevent them to be rejected. If they were able of doing that, women could have concealed, maybe, their gender. Those men usually formed part of the first on suffering a premature death, normally during the first winter.

Let´s then continue thinking there were women among the crews of the Erebus and Terror and put some colour and variety to a story which never ceases of surprising us with new and astonishing facts. What is next? I have to wonder.