Harry Peglar

{{Short description|English Royal Navy seaman}} {{Use British English|date=January 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox military person | width_style = person | name = Henry Peter Peglar | birth_date = {{birth date|1812|2|22|df=y}} | birth_place = Westminster, Middlesex, England | burial_label = Disappeared | burial_place = {{disappeared date and age|1848|4|25|1812|2|22|df=y}}<br/>King William Island, North-Western Territory (now Nunavut, Canada) | allegiance = {{flagu|United Kingdom|size=20px}} | branch_label = Branch | branch = {{navy|UKGBI|size=20px}} | service_years_label = Service&nbsp;years | service_years = 1825–1827; 1829; 1834–1848 | unit_label = Ships | unit = {{ubl|HMS ''Solebay''|HMS ''Clio''|HMS ''Magnificent''|HMS ''Rattlesnake''|HMS ''Serapis''|HMS ''Perseus''|HMS ''Prince Regent''|HMS ''Talavera''|HMS ''Gannet''|HMS ''Temeraire''|HMS ''Ocean''|HMS ''Wanderer''| HMS ''Terror''}} | battles_label = Service | battles = {{ubl|West Africa Squadron| First Opium War | Franklin expedition}} }}

'''Henry Peter Peglar''' (22 February 1812 – c. 1849) was an English seaman who served in the Royal Navy. He served as Captain of the Foretop, a Petty Officer rank, on HMS ''Terror'' during the 1845 Franklin Expedition, which sought to chart the Canadian Arctic, find the Northwest Passage, and make scientific observations. All expedition personnel died, including Peglar, mostly on and around King William Island. Several of his personal effects were found with a skeleton by Francis Leopold McClintock, which are among the only written materials known to belong to members of the expedition. In 2026, the skeleton was positively identified as belonging to Peglar. Earlier in his career, he engaged in anti-slavery operations in West Africa and served in the First Opium War.

== Biography ==

=== Early life and education === Harry Peglar was born to John and Sarah Peglar on 22 February 1812 and was baptized on 29 November 1813 alongside his sister Elizabeth, who had been born in 1810.<ref>London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; ''London Church of England Parish Registers''; Reference Number: ''DL/T/092/001''</ref> His father was a gunsmith working at 12 Buckingham Row, Petty France, City of Westminster, England. John Peglar was a political radical who voted for Francis Burdett.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

Harry Peglar was received by the Marine Society, a charitable organization for helping destitute boys and training seamen, on 4 August 1825. When admitted, he was already able to read and write, having possibly received an early education at the Blewcoat School, which was near his father's address.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

=== Naval career ===

==== Training and preparations ==== In September 1825, one month after his admittance into the Marine Society, Peglar was sent to HMS ''Solebay'', a shoreside training station where he was initiated into the navy, being trained in rowing, going aloft, managing sails, making knots and splices, using equipment such as the compass, and working guns and other arms, as well as in reading, writing, habituation to subordination and naval discipline, and religious instruction, going to Deptford Church on Sundays. As with the other seamen, he was provided with an abridged bible, a prayer book, and a full set of clothes and equipment (canvas bag, bonnet, jacket, trousers, shirts, canvas frock, hose, shoes, kerchief, woollen cap, comb, knife, needle, thread).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

==== The Caribbean ==== Peglar was discharged "with a good character" from ''Solebay'' on 14 December 1825, and sent aboard the tender ''Star'' to join HMS ''Clio'', stationed in the Chatham Dockyard. Aboard ''Clio'', he served as a supernumerary for victuals as the ship travelled to Portsmouth. He was then transferred to HMS ''Magnificent'', a hospital ship, where he was rated as Boy, supernumerary for wages and victuals, working in the sick quarters. He sailed to Plymouth and then on to Port Royal, Jamaica, where ''Magnificent'' became employed as a store ship under Lieutenant John Mundell.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

The next Royal Navy ship on which Peglar definitively served was the 6th Rate 28-gun HMS ''Rattlesnake'', which travelled throughout the Caribbean in 1826 and 1827.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Lloyd-Jones|first=Ralph|date=2005|title=The Men who Sailed with Franklin|journal=Polar Record|language=en|volume=41|issue=4|pages=311–318|doi=10.1017/S0032247405004651|s2cid=131330851|issn=0032-2474|doi-access=free|bibcode=2005PoRec..41..311L }}</ref> After leaving ''Magnificent'', Peglar had written "tern over to H.M. Hulk Serreapis Commander Ellott [''sic'']," referring to HMS ''Serapis'', stationed in Port Royal under command of John Elliot. Despite this, Peglar's name does not appear in ''Serapis''<nowiki/>'s muster book.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref> While aboard ''Rattlesnake'', commanded by Captain John Leith, Peglar called upon most ports in the West Indies, including Inagua, Port-au-Prince, Havana, Montego, Santiago de Cuba, Chagres, as well as Bermuda and Halifax, before returning to England and paying off in September 1827 at the Woolwich Dockyard.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

==== England 1827 ==== On 3 September 1827, only days after returning to England, Peglar joined the ship HMS ''Perseus'', stationed at the Tower of London and commanded by Captain James Crouch. ''Perseus'' was a depot ship that served only to collect men to make up the complements of ships in commission. On 14 September, Peglar was sent to HMS ''Prince Regent'', stationed in Chatham and commanded by George Poulett. Peglar was discharged from ''Prince Regent'' for an unknown reason, his record explained that he did something to an apprentice, but the details are no longer legible.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

==== East India Company and Coast Blockade ==== After being discharged, Peglar entered the service the East India Company, and sailed under Thomas Larkins aboard the ''Marquis Camden'', bound for St. Helena, as it was bringing Brigadier General Charles Dallas, who was appointed governor. Dallas, his wife, and three daughters landed on St. Helena on 29 April 1828 under a salute of thirteen guns which the crew of the ship manned.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref> ''Marquis Camden'' then continued on its scheduled trip to Bombay (modern day Mumbai) and China.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hygi657h5UIC&dq=thomas+larkins+marquis+camden&pg=RA4-PA842|title=The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany|publisher=W. H. Allen & Co.|year=1828|location=London|pages=842}}</ref> Shortly after leaving St. Helena, Peglar wrote that ''Marquis Camden'' was struck by lightning, which killed a sergeant and private.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref> The ship then called upon the Paracels and Singapore, and visited Krakatoa before returning by St. Helena and returning to The Downs by the English Channel on 7 July 1829. All men were discharged two days later.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

A Coast Blockade ship in The Downs called ''Ramillies'' was the next ship on which Peglar served. The duty of the ship was to investigate smuggling between England and France. ''Ramillies'' was known for having been a ship on which Hugh Pigot had previously served 1361 lashes to only 28 men in one morning, bringing the number to 2000 over the next few months. Peglar spent minimal time on ''Ramillies'', and was moved to HMS ''Antelope'', the ship's tender to ''Ramillies'', engaged in the same work.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

==== First return to the Royal Navy, second service with the East India Company ==== Peglar returned to the Royal Navy aboard HMS ''Talavera'', a 3rd Rate, 74-gun ship that operated out of Sheerness.<ref name=":1" /> Hugh Pigot, who had commanded ''Ramillies'' had been put in charge of ''Talavera'' on 15 September 1829.<ref>{{Cite book|last=O'Byrne|first=William Richard|title=A Naval Biographical Dictionary|publisher=J Murray|year=1849|location=London|pages=906|chapter=Pigot, K.C.B., K.C.H. (Vice-Admiral of the Blue, 1847. F-P., 35; H-P., 24.)|author-link=William Richard O'Byrne}}</ref> Peglar wrote to be discharged from ''Talavera'', and was successful in getting it.

Successfully out of the Royal Navy again, he rejoined Thomas Larkins aboard ''Marquis Camden'' which sailed for St Helena, Bombay, Penang, Singapore, and Macau. He served from 14 February 1832 until he was discharged 31 May 1833. He did not mention this service in his report due to it being unsatisfactory: he was disrated to ordinary seaman in January 1833, confined in irons, and punished with two dozen lashes for drunkenness and mutinous conduct.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref> In his account he noted only one event, when the schooner ''Royal Tiger'' fired upon the poop deck of ''Marquis Camden'', killing the Chief Mate John Fenn, who was buried the next day on shore.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

==== Second return to the Royal Navy ==== Peglar joined, on 4 April 1834, the 18-gun brig-sloop HMS ''Gannet'', which sailed first into the Mediterranean before crossing the Atlantic for four years’ service in North America and the West Indies.<ref name=":1" /> Peglar's service may again have been unsatisfactory, as he was rated initially as Captain of the Foretop, a senior petty officer, but served as lesser rates including gunner's crew and captain's coxswain, ending his service as an able seaman.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref> Also aboard ''Gannet'' was Thomas Armitage, who would later serve alongside Peglar as gunroom steward aboard ''Terror'', and who was believed to be the man whose skeleton was found with Peglar's items.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Potter|first=Russell A.|title=Finding Franklin : the untold story of a 165-year search|date=2016|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|isbn=978-0-7735-9961-1|edition=|location=Montreal|pages=40–41|oclc=959865229|author-link=Russell Potter}}</ref> Two other future Franklin expedition men, Charles Hamilton Osmer and James Walter Fairholme, served aboard ''Gannet'' at the same time as Peglar.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

In February 1838, Peglar was discharged from ''Gannet'', and joined HMS ''Temeraire'' at Sheerness as an able seaman. His service was unremarkable, and Sir John Hill (who was later in charge of the Deptford Victualling Yard when the Franklin Expedition was fitted out) recorded his conduct as "indifferent."<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Peglar then served briefly aboard HMS ''Ocean'', where he entered as an able seaman and rated up to Captain of the Forecastle. He turned over to the sloop HMS ''Wanderer'', keeping his position as Captain of the Forecastle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

==== HMS ''Wanderer'' ====

===== Anti-slavery operations ===== Peglar transferred to ''Wanderer'' on 3 December 1839, which sailed for the Caribbean in 1840.<ref name=":1" /> Thereafter, ''Wanderer'' was employed along the West Coast of Africa, where she fought against the slave trade.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref> Britain had abolished the slave trade in 1807, and since 1808 had employed Royal Navy ships to engage in anti-slavery patrol. Between 1808 and 1860, the West Africa Squadron seized as many as 1600 ships involved in the slave trade and freed up to 150,000 Africans. The work was dangerous, as the ships were rarely made for coastal, river, and swamp operation, and disease and fever were common.<ref name="Naval Museum - Chasing Freedom">{{cite web|title=Chasing Freedom Information Sheet|url=http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/visit_see_victory_cfexhibition_infosheet.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927230848/http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/visit_see_victory_cfexhibition_infosheet.htm|archive-date=27 September 2007|access-date=17 January 2021|website=Royal Naval Museum}}</ref> The foundations of anti-slavery activity helped redefine the Navy's sense of purpose and frame British conceptions of the civilizing mission.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McAleer|first=John|title=The Royal Navy and the British Atlantic World, c. 1750--1820|date=2016|others=John McAleer, Christer Petley|isbn=978-1-137-50765-5|location=London|pages=18|oclc=950459524}}</ref>

Since 17 November 1839, ''Wanderer'' was commanded by Joseph Denman, who managed the ship between Cape Verde and Cape Palmas, Liberia. Due to the activity there, Denman as captain of the ''Wanderer'' made treaties with local chiefs and expelled slave-traders before moving on to Sierra Leone where up to 200 slaves were emancipated.<ref>{{Cite book|last=O'Byrne|first=William Richard|title=A Naval Biographical Dictionary|publisher=J Murray|year=1849|location=London|pages=278|chapter=Denman, F.R.S (Captain 1841. F-P., 15; H-P., 9.)|author-link=William Richard O'Byrne}}</ref> Most of the slave ships operating in the area of Sierra Leone and Liberia were registered under Spanish flags, but were owned and operated by American and British slave traders who were pushed to operate in Africa (and other locations including Cuba) because of domestic laws that banned the slave trade.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gonzalez|first=Jorge Felipe|date=2021|title=The Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Galinhas in Southern Sierra Leone, 1790–1820|journal=The Journal of African History|volume=62 |issue=3 |language=en|pages=319–341|doi=10.1017/S0021853721000517|s2cid=242084965|issn=0021-8537|doi-access=free}}</ref> In 1840, while Peglar was serving aboard, the crew of ''Wanderer'' destroyed the last two great slave-processing factories in Western Africa.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=McBride|first=Keally|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZ6kDAAAQBAJ|title=Mr. Mothercountry: The Man who Made the Rule of Law|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-0-19-025297-7|location=Oxford|language=en|type=Online Resource}}</ref> In May 1840 ''Wanderer'' crew mounted a raid and destroyed eight slave depots, freeing 800 slaves bound for Cuba and captured fifteen slaving ships.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Timothy J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvtDAgAAQBAJ&dq=joseph+denman+sierra+leone&pg=PA108|title=A Military History of Africa [3 volumes]|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2013|isbn=978-0-313-39570-3|pages=108|language=}}</ref> These operations were the first time direct action was taken against slave camps on land, rather than intercepting ships as they left or entered harbours. The men of ''Wanderer'' had to wade through brackish and muddy water, sleep in bogs, and wear perpetually damp clothing, with malaria an ever-present threat that disabled sixteen of the men.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref>

British MP Matthew Forster, who wanted to expand his Gambia-based merchant business, argued against Denman's testimony that Britain should not colonize the coast and declared the destruction of the factories illegal, which led to the slave traders suing Denman and British policy to cease being as aggressive in anti-slavery activity as Denman had wanted.<ref name=":4" />

===== First Opium War ===== ''Wanderer'' sailed for India and then China, seeing action in the First Opium War near the end of the conflict. By August 1842, ''Wanderer'' was active in Chinese waters.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mao|first=Haijian|title=The Qing Empire and the Opium War : the collapse of the Heavenly Dynasty|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1-107-06987-9|location=Cambridge|pages=385|oclc=954428503}}</ref> During this voyage, the ''Wanderer'' men faced combat with Malay pirates. Among the men fighting the pirates was George Henry Hodgson, who would go on to serve as second lieutenant aboard ''Terror'' during the Franklin Expedition.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Battersby|first=William|title=James Fitzjames: The Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition|publisher=Dundurn Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1-55488-781-1|location=Toronto|pages=158|language=English}}</ref> ''Wanderer'' and the sloop HMS ''Harlequin'' engaged with men from Aceh, after they were accused of piracy against English merchant vessels, culminating in the burning of two local villages and several casualties from the two English ships; ''Harlequin''<nowiki/>'s first lieutenant lost his left arm and nine further men were wounded to a degree they could no longer fight.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cunynghame|first=Arthur Augustus Thurlow|title=The Opium War: Being Recollections of Service in China|publisher=G. B. Zieber & Company|year=1845|location=Philadelphia|pages=247–248|author-link=Arthur Augustus Thurlow Cunynghame}}</ref> Peglar earned the post of Captain of the Foretop aboard ''Wanderer'' and was rated "very good" by Denman when he was discharged on 27 June 1844.<ref name=":1" />

=== Franklin Expedition ===

==== Preparations ==== Peglar spent several months ashore before signing on to ''Terror'' under Captain Francis Crozier, on 11 March 1845 in Chatham.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref> During these months, according to the anonymous account of a crewmember of the ''Wanderer,'' he was the proprietor of a beer house in Westminster.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Henry Peglar's Beer Hall – All well|date=4 November 2021 |url=https://allegrarosenberg.com/polar/2021/11/04/henry-peglars-beer-hall/|access-date=2022-01-25|language=en-US}}</ref> Two other ''Wanderer'' men joined after him: George Henry Hodgson (on the recommendation of ''Erebus'' commander James Fitzjames) and William Gibson, who had served as an ordinary seaman in both West Africa and China.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref> Maritime historian Glenn M. Stein has suggested that Hodgson and/or Peglar spoke up for Gibson's joining of the expedition; as an ordinary seaman Gibson would not have been allowed to join an arctic expedition, but an arrangement was made where he served a domestic position: subordinate officer's steward.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref> Peglar left no allotment.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Folios 316-320: HMS Terror allotment numbers 25736-25767, year of allotment 1845. ADM 27/90/92|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16347942|access-date=17 January 2022|website=The National Archives}}</ref>

==== In the Canadian Arctic ==== The expedition overwintered on Beechey Island from 1845–1846, where three men died and were buried. In September 1846, after presumably sailing through Peel Sound and Franklin Strait, the ships became beset by ice in the northern Victoria Strait several kilometres north of King William Island.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Keenleyside|first1=Anne|last2=Bertulli|first2=Margaret|last3=Fricke|first3=Henry C.|date=1997|title=The Final Days of the Franklin Expedition: New Skeletal Evidence|journal=Arctic|volume=50|issue=1|pages=36–46|doi=10.14430/arctic1089|issn=1923-1245|doi-access=free}}</ref> In April 1848, ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'' were still beset by ice, and twenty-one men including Commander of the Expedition John Franklin and Lieutenant Graham Gore had died. On 22 April 1848, Francis Crozier and one-hundred-four more surviving personnel deserted the ships, moved equipment including ship's boats across twenty-eight kilometres of sea ice and encamped on the northwest corner of King William Island. On 26 April, the group set off to find the Back River and help from a Hudson Bay Company post on the Canadian mainland.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Stenton|first=Douglas R.|author-link=Douglas Stenton|date=2018|title=Finding the dead: bodies, bones and burials from the 1845 Franklin northwest passage Expedition|journal=Polar Record|volume=54|issue=3|pages=197–212|doi=10.1017/s0032247418000359|issn=0032-2474|s2cid=133972993|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018PoRec..54..197S }}</ref> All of the men died after the desertion of the ships, mostly between 1848 and 1851, though the ships were likely remanned and exact timelines are speculative.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Woodman|first=David C.|title=Unravelling the Franklin Mystery : Inuit Testimony (Second Edition).|date=2000|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|isbn=978-0-7735-8217-0|edition=2nd|location=Montréal|pages=5–7|oclc=953666769}}</ref>

Peglar, alongside the rest of the expedition personnel, was declared dead on 3 March 1854.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lloyd-Jones|first=Ralph|date=2018|title=Franklin's men and their families: New evidence from the Allotment Books|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/polar-record/article/abs/franklins-men-and-their-families-new-evidence-from-the-allotment-books/6EE3D57CEE49766B6BC76BCA28A6E851|journal=Polar Record|language=en|volume=54|issue=4|pages=267–274|doi=10.1017/S0032247418000451|bibcode=2018PoRec..54..267L |issn=0032-2474|s2cid=134217554|url-access=subscription}}</ref> His arrears of pay were given to a married sister who was his next of kin.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=A. G. E.|title=Henry Peter Peglar, Captain of the Foretop (1811–48) |date=1984|journal=Notes and Queries|volume=December 1984|issue=4|pages=463–468|doi=10.1093/nq/31-4-463}}</ref>

== Gladman Point skeleton == Shortly after midnight on 25 May 1859, Francis Leopold McClintock, while investigating the Franklin Expedition on King William Island, came across a partly-exposed bleached human skeleton, face-down along a gravel ridge.<ref>Potter (2016), 40.</ref> McClintock identified the location as nine miles east of Cape Herschel, placing it at Gladman Point.<ref name=":5" /> It is the only human remains found within the 30 mile stretch between Washington Bay and Tulloch Point, and was never buried, indicating they may have been a solitary straggler who was separated from the main party, possibly by a sudden blizzard, a weather event known to occur on King William Island.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Woodman|first=David C.|title=Unravelling the Franklin Mystery : Inuit Testimony (Second Edition).|date=2000|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|isbn=978-0-7735-8217-0|edition=2nd|location=Montréal|pages=177|oclc=953666769|author-link=David C. Woodman}}</ref>

The skeleton had with it fragments of clothing, and a wallet with a pocket book and various papers. McClintock believed the words of the book were written in German, but they were English written backwards, resulting in words like "eht" for "the" and "meht" for "them." Among the papers was Peglar's seaman's certificate, leading to the papers being called the "Peglar Papers."<ref name=":2" /> Two different sets of handwriting, one Peglar's and one unidentified, who addresses Peglar by name, make up the documents. Other items with the skeleton were a half sovereign from 1844, a sixpence from 1831, a horn pocket comb with light brown hairs, and a small clothes brush.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref> The remains were not collected by McClintock, and he provided no report of their treatment after discovery.

The skeleton was believed to not have been refound<ref name=":5" /> until 2022, when Douglas Stenton identified that accounts and maps had geographic errors, and that the site had been found and excavated in 1973 by members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, CFB London, and the Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last=Stenton |first=Douglas R. |author-link=Douglas Stenton |date=2022 |title=Finding "Harry Peglar": Re-examining the discovery of a Franklin expedition sailor's skeleton by the 1859 McClintock search expedition |journal=Polar Record |language=en |volume=58 |issue=e25 |pages=1–14 |article-number=e25 |doi=10.1017/S0032247422000237 |s2cid=251447305 |issn=0032-2474|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022PoRec..58E..25S }}</ref> One photograph was taken in-situ and another post-excavation, having been reassembled on a sheet of plywood. The finders estimated the skeleton belonged to a person about six feet tall in life, but the methods they used to determine this are unknown.<ref name=":13" /> The bones and some artefacts, consisting of three cloth-covered metal buttons, one pearl button, and several pieces of cloth, were gathered up and brought to the National Museum of Man in Ottawa (now the Canadian Museum of History). Analyses were performed on the remains in the museum, but the accounts were not published. The location of the remains and artefacts is unknown as of August 2022, and the museum officially lists their whereabouts as "unknown."<ref name=":13" />

The 1973 site was re-examined in 2019, and a left first metatarsal as well as buttons were found. The metatarsal is regarded as being from the remains exhumed in 1973 and DNA analyses provided mitochondrial and Y-chromosome haplogroups indicating a male of European ancestry, and the buttons are consistent with those found by earlier searchers.<ref name=":13" />

Several potential identities were put forward for the skeleton, which was identified as Peglar's on May 6, 2026, with the use of DNA testing by Douglas Stenton at the University of Waterloo.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=Jennifer |date=2026-05-06 |title=Four sailors from doomed Franklin expedition identified through DNA |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/kitchener/article/four-sailors-with-the-doomed-franklin-expedition-identified-through-dna/ |access-date=2026-05-06 |website=CTVNews |language=en}}</ref>

=== Harry Peglar === Due to the fact that Peglar's personal documents were found with the body, it was initially identified as his.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref> Those who rejected the theory pointed to the fact that the skeleton was dressed in a steward's uniform, something a senior petty officer like Peglar would never have done. As the person was carrying Peglar's important documents at their death, Russell Potter suggested it was probable the person was a friend of Peglar who was carrying his letters after Peglar had died.<ref name=":2" /> While it is possible Peglar was wearing whatever clothes were on hand, among the effects was a small clothes brush, a piece of equipment an actual steward or officer's servant would be carrying around, further evidencing that the skeleton was not Peglar.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref> Franklin Expedition scholars including David C. Woodman rejected the idea that it was Peglar's body.<ref name=":7" /> The body was positively identified as Peglar's in 2026.<ref name=":14" />

=== Thomas Armitage === Thomas Armitage was gunroom steward aboard HMS ''Terror'' and aged about 40 in 1845.<ref>[http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/muster.html Muster Rolls of H.M.SS. ''Erebus'' and ''Terror''], ADM 38/672 and ADM 38/1962, The National Archives, London</ref> He and Peglar had previously met while serving together from 1834 to 1838 aboard HMS ''Gannet'', and as a steward he matched the clothing and items found on the skeleton.<ref>Potter (2016), 41-42.</ref> The writings with the skeleton included a mention of "Cumanar," referring to Cumaná, Venezuela, a city that Peglar and Armitage both visited from late 1834 through January 1835 while aboard ''Gannet''. Armitage's hair colour (brown) and height (5' 9") are both consistent with the skeleton.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref> The Royal Museums Greenwich considers Armitage the identity of the skeleton.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|title=Wallet {{!}} Royal Museums Greenwich|url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-2113|access-date=17 January 2022|website=Royal Museums Greenwich}}</ref> One of the lines within the narrative journal says "all my art Tom," which Russell Potter notes may represent an English dialect where the initial letter 'h' is silent, thus spelling "all my heart, Tom."<ref>Potter (2016), 51.</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite news|last=Potter|first=Russell A.|date=2014|title=The 'Peglar' Papers Revisited|work=Trafalgar Chronicle|url=https://w3.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/potter_peglar_trafchron.pdf}}</ref> Elsewhere, the writer spells "open" as "Hopen" indicating unfamiliarity of spelling words with silent h's at the beginning.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Potter|first=Russell A.|author-link=Russell Potter|date=2000|title=Russell Potter's transcript of the "Peglar Papers"|url=https://w3.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/aglooka/peglar-fulltext-rev_2000.pdf|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> Evidence suggests that Armitage was illiterate in 1826, as he signed his marriage certificate with an X rather than his name, subsequently making it less likely he was the second writer in the Peglar papers.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref> In 1845, when he made an allotment, he still signed his name with an X, indicating he had not learned how to write in the intervening years.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book|last=Hutchinson|first=Gillian|title=Sir John Franklin's Erebus and Terror Expedition: Lost and Found.|date=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4729-4870-0|location=London|pages=76–77|oclc=1021810699}}</ref>

=== William Gibson === Subordinate officer's steward William Gibson had a longer and more recent connection to Peglar, as they served together between January 1840 and June 1844 aboard ''Wanderer'', working together in operations against pirates and slavers.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|last1=Keenleyside|first1=Anne|last2=Stenton|first2=Douglas R.|last3=Newman|first3=Karla|date=2021|title=The integration of isotopic and historical data to investigate the identification of crewmembers of the 1845 Franklin expedition|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103200|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports|volume=40|article-number=103200|doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103200|bibcode=2021JArSR..40j3200K |s2cid=240256345|issn=2352-409X|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The writings include a reference to "Comfort Cove," a location on Ascencion Island that Peglar and Gibson visited together but that Armitage has no record of visiting. Gibson also had brown hair, as did Peglar and Armitage.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Glenn M.|date=2007|title=Scattered memories and frozen bones: revealing a sailor of the Franklin Expedition, 1845–48|journal=Orders and Medals Research Society Journal|volume=46|issue=4|pages=224–232}}</ref> Gibson was literate when he joined ''Terror'' in 1845.<ref name=":10" />

== The Peglar papers == In addition to Peglar's seaman's certificate, the wallet found with the skeleton contained several paper documents: various scraps of newspaper, a hand-written narrative of Peglar's service going around the sides of a piece of paper in a square, a parody of the poem "The Sea" by Bryan Waller Procter in Peglar's handwriting dated 21 April 1847, various narrative journal entries including a capture of a turtle, and various pieces of paper with addresses formatted like letters.<ref name=":8" /> The parody of The Sea, beginning "The C the C the open C it grew so fresh the Ever free," is a play on Procter's poem where the "C" is a ribald double-entendre for the female genitalia, representing the desire for both the freedom of the open water and unrestricted sexuality which was impossible to hold in the restrictive and dangerous context of a seagoing naval vessel.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Parkinson|first=Edward|title=Echoing silence: essays on Arctic narrative|date=1997|publisher=University of Ottawa Press|isbn=978-0-7766-1583-7|editor-last=Moss|editor-first=John|location=Ottawa|pages=50–52|chapter="All Well": Narrating the Third Franklin Expedition|oclc=180704434}}</ref>

One of the most significant lines is a couplet beginning with "O Death whare is thy Sting / the Grave at Comfort Cove." These represent a eulogy, as the opening line is from the Service for the Burial of the Dead in the Book of Common Prayer, a text with which all Royal Navy seamen would have been expected to be familiar with. Other lines including "The Dyer was and whare Traffalegar [''sic'']" circumstantially suggest that the burial service being transcribed was Franklin's, as he was the only expedition member who was also a veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar.<ref>Potter (2016), 46-47.</ref> Other references to events occurring during the expedition are also within the text: a drawing of "Lid Bay," a place encountered by the expedition and named on account of its eye-like shape, references to "new boots," "hard ground to heave" (either grave-digging or sledge-hauling) and the phrase "Terror Camp is clear," but due to the poor legibility of the documents the full context is missing, and most of the sentences remain unreadable without advanced forensic techniques.<ref name=":9">{{Cite news|last=Potter|first=Russell A.|date=2014|title=The 'Peglar' Papers Revisited|work=Trafalgar Chronicle|url=https://w3.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/potter_peglar_trafchron.pdf}}</ref> One legible portion reads "the 21st night a gread [''sic'']" which Russell Potter suggests may refer to 21st April 1848, the day before 105 survivors deserted the ships and four days before the last official communication, an addendum to the Victory Point Note, was written.<ref name=":9">{{Cite news|last=Potter|first=Russell A.|date=2014|title=The 'Peglar' Papers Revisited|work=Trafalgar Chronicle|url=https://w3.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/potter_peglar_trafchron.pdf}}</ref>

Of the various addresses given on letters, only one has been identified as a legitimate address with a known occupant: one William Eames Heathfield, a chemist with a shop at 10 Pall Mall in London. Heathfield became a member of the Royal Geographical Society in 1863, and was acquainted with Roderick Murchison, indicating some connection to Arctic exploration, but there are no known ties between him and Peglar or Armitage. As the letter says "in care of," it is possible the writer wished to reach another person through Heathfield rather than correspond with Heathfield himself.<ref name=":9">{{Cite news|last=Potter|first=Russell A.|date=2014|title=The 'Peglar' Papers Revisited|work=Trafalgar Chronicle|url=https://w3.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/potter_peglar_trafchron.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":12">Potter (2016), 44.</ref> Other letters are fanciful, including one address to "Miss down fall" on the fictional "Old Free Street."<ref name=":12">Potter (2016), 44.</ref>

== See also == * John Gregory, engineer of ''Erebus'' whose skeletal remains were identified by DNA in 2021. * List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea * Personnel of Franklin's lost expedition, for Peglar's shipmates

== References == {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Peglar, Harry}} Category:1812 births Category:1840s deaths Category:1840s missing person cases Category:19th-century Royal Navy personnel Category:English polar explorers Category:Explorers of Canada Category:Franklin's lost expedition Category:Lost explorers Category:Missing person cases in Canada Category:Military personnel from Westminster Category:Royal Navy personnel of the First Opium War Category:Royal Navy sailors Category:Royal Navy West Africa Squadron personnel