William Braine

William Braine
Born 1814
Died 3 April 1846
Beechey Island, Nunavut, Canada
Cause of death
 Lead poisoning
Body discovered
 1984
Resting place
 Beechey Island
74°43′N 091°51′W / 74.717°N 91.850°W
Occupation Explorer

William Braine (1814 — 3 April 1846) was an explorer. Braine served as a Marine in the Royal Marines. He was part of an expedition to find the Northwest Passage, but he died early in the trip and was buried on Beechey Island. His preserved body was exhumed in 1984, to try to determine the cause of death.[1]

Franklin's lost expedition

Braine was a part of Sir John Franklin's final expedition to find the Northwest Passage. The trip was expected to last about three years, so the ships were packed with provisions which included more than 136,000 pounds of flour, 3,684 gallons of high-proof alcohol and 33,000 pounds of tinned meat, soup and vegetables.[2][3][4]

Graves

Graves of William Braine (left), John Torrington (right) and John Hartnell (center).

In 1976, 3 graves from the Franklin expedition were found on Beechey Island, Northwest Territories, Canada, by marine surveyors.[4] The graves belonged to Braine, John Torrington and John Hartnell. The team exumed the bodies in 1984 and found them to be perfectly preserved, later determining that they had died from lead poisoning.[3]

References

  1. ↑ What Can We Learn From the Well-Preserved “Franklin Expedition” Mummies?
  2. ↑ PBS, NOVA [Arctic Passage http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/arctic/provisions.html]
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "William Braine (1814-1846)".
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "The Franklin Expedition: Featured Mummy". Retrieved 2007-06-29.

Further reading