Who Let the Dogs out? - On the Misconceptions about Old Nep’

Written By JK Spallek & Katie Pitt

Those of you who are more familiar with the Franklin Expedition might recall reading about the array of pets that accompanied the crew of HMS Erebus and Terror into Arctic waters at some point or another: an unnamed cat, the monkey Jacko and the Newfoundland Neptune, all supposedly gifts by Lady Jane Franklin (née Griffin). There's a problem, however, with this list commonly presented in modern publications: Contemporary accounts suggest that in fact two dogs accompanied the expedition. 

Within the framework of this "re-discovery" we want to make a daring proposal: Neptune was no Newfoundland and no gift of Lady Jane's either. His owner was Commander Graham Gore, RN. 

Contemporary Accounts

Evidence can be found in several letters from officers of Erebus which were sent home to their respective families with the supply ships:

In a letter to his father John, dated May 6, 1845, Assistant Surgeon Henry Duncan Spens Goodsir, RN, explained why he revoked his initial decision to have his own family dog, Cæsar, join the expedition as designated ship's dog. The reason is fairly simple:

“The 1st. Lieutenant of the Erebus [Graham Gore already] has got a dog […]” 

Goodsir also does not fail to mention the age of the Lieutenant’s dog in comparison to Cæsar’s, commenting on it a little tongue-in-cheek:

“[...] altho [Cæsar is] not so advanced in years as the one [dog] we are taking.”

Commander James Fitzjames, RN, on the other hand compiled a list of officers on Erebus who he would like to describe in greater detail to Elizabeth Coningham (née Meyrick), the wife of his foster brother William, on June 5, 1845. Among them we can find: 

“[...] First Lieutenant Gore - and his black labrador dog.” 

These two accounts alone make it quite clear that Gore must have brought a dog along on the expedition. But what about the Newfoundland Neptune that is a staple in modern adaptations of the Franklin Expedition? Erebus' third Lieutenant James Walter Fairholme, RN, can give us an answer to this question.

On May 17, 1845, Fairholme wrote a summary of all the pets that would accompany them on the expedition (not to be mistaken with the animals aboard in general, since livestock was loaded up for provisions too, according to Erebus’ Purser Charles Hamilton Osmer, RN), including the two ship’s dogs: 

“Lady Franklin has given us, among other presents, a capital monkey [Jacko], which with old Neptune & a Newfoundland dog which is coming & one cat will be all the pets allowed.”

In another letter, dated July 1, 1845, he mentioned Neptune once more, informing his father George that the dog is in much better shape now than when they first embarked: 

“Old Nep [Neptune] has lost much of his unwieldiness since we left & now runs up & down our step ladders with ease. He is the most lovable dog I ever knew & is a general favourite.” 

Together the three accounts provide a strong claim that the black Labrador that belonged to Gore was in fact Neptune: Both Fitzjames and Fairholme mentioned a dog (“his [Gore’s] black labrador dog” vs “Old Nep [Neptune]”) after the ships had already set sail in June and July 1845 respectively. Fairholme even specified earlier in May 1845 that no other dogs but Neptune and a Newfoundland were set to join them on their voyage, thus, explicitly stating that they are two different animals. With only two dogs in total it is reasonable to assume that Neptune must be the Labrador in question. Since Goodsir's letter, which first makes mention of Gore's dog, is dated before Fairholme's with the list of ship's pets attached it's also safe to consider that the Newfoundland wasn't belatedly switched out for Gore's Labrador either.

Neptune's identity and ownership can be further supported by the fact that all surviving mentions of the dogs are restricted to Erebus, thus, making the idea that Neptune must have been a gift to Captain Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier, RN, of Terror especially, as it has been most prominently promoted in AMC’s The Terror (2018), fairly unlikely. In fact, it is difficult to draw any other impression from Fairholme's account than that Lady Jane only gifted Jacko, the named “capital monkey”, to the crew of the expedition. Furthermore, both the dog referred to as Gore’s and Neptune are called old in the respective letters by Goodsir and Fairholme, thus, giving further evidence that the two men might have been talk about the same animal.

Secondary Literature and Popular Media vs the State of Contemporary Sources

With the contents of the contemporary sources supposedly being so clear, how could it happen that secondary literature and popular media alike often still morph Neptune and the Newfoundland into a single dog?

Quite a few factors seem to have played a role in the longevity of this misconception: The basis of many modern depictions of the pets aboard Erebus and Terror appears to be an abridged version of Fairholme’s accounts, most likely derived from another secondary source rather than directly from the primary ones (for examples consult Sources - Secondary Literature and Popular Media vs the State of Contemporary Sources at the end of this post). A lack of time, resources and accessibility may hinder scholars from examining the original manuscripts themselves. Especially institutions like museums are notoriously underfunded and understaffed, so using the transcriptions of colleagues or earlier scholars as aid and substitute seems like the most viable solution at first (we are no exception to that). And while there is no shame in using transcriptions, they can be inaccurate or incomplete, sometimes even censored or edited, thus, leading to clerical errors being copied and ultimately spread.

Even worse if no original manuscripts are available at all. The transcriptions of half of the four letters quoted above originate in transcriptions provided by the respective archive in return, as the object IDs cited for Fairholme’s two letters in May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth only yield copies made by Eleanor Isabella Gell (née Franklin), Captain Sir John Franklin’s, RN, only daughter, in the database of the Derbyshire Record Office, Matlock (UK). The whereabouts of these original letters seem to be unknown or possibly still in the hands of descendants, meaning that there is little to be done but to trust in Eleanor Gell’s deciphering skills and reading comprehension. Goodsir’s letter on the other hand seems to be held by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Perth (UK), with the rest of the Goodsir Papers.

In case of Fitzjames’ letter, however, we fortunately were allowed to take a peek at the original via Fabiënne Tetteroo, the James Fitzjames expert who runs Jamesfitzjames.com (many thanks for that!), since it’s part of a private collection. And, indeed, the mention of Gore’s black Labrador is genuine. In addition to that, a microfilm scan of the manuscript is also held by the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London (UK). Beforehand only edited versions of some of Fitzjames’ letters, published by William Coningham, were available to the public. None of said published versions included the crucial phrase about the dog. 

Counter-Arguments

After already putting the transcriptions under scrutiny, it would be remiss not to include some further counter-arguments. 

One of the most obvious ones is that we do not know of any prior mentions of Neptune or any other dog, for that matter, that could support our assumptions; neither in Gore's own letters nor in the published accounts from the ships he has served on beforehand. This can be easily explained, however, with the fact that on one hand only two of his letters survived to modern days and that on the other hand we have not been able to view any of the captain or ship's logs at the time of this publication. We will keep you updated on that matter.

And even then absence of evidence does not necessarily mean evidence of absence. It was not uncommon for officer's especially to have their furry companions tag along whenever they were commissioned to a new ship (the most prominent example being Bounce, the dog of Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, Baron Collingwood, RN). Moreover, it would not be unreasonable to assume that Gore might have left his dog in the care of an acquaintance, former shipmate or simply his family on prior assignments. Otherwise he might have only recently purchased a dog before Erebus and Terror's departure, possibly even for the position as ship's dog, which, however, seems unlikely given the advanced age of the animal, as mentioned by Goodsir. Both of these explanations for a lack of further evidence in other sources are highly speculative, of course.

Looking at the history of the Labrador as dog breed reveals another weak spot of our theory: The Labrador, which originally hailed from Newfoundland (Canada) and at that point of time has only been fairly recently introduced to the UK, was mistaken for its bigger cousin fairly often back then, most likely because neither of the breeds has been overbred yet. They were mistaken for one another so often even that, for example, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Hawker, BA, felt compelled to add a precise distinction between the Newfoundland and the Labrador to his Instructions to Young Sportsman (7th edition) by 1833. Thus, it can just as easily be claimed that either Fitzjames or Fairholme merely may have confused the dog breeds, which makes a more definite identification of Neptune difficult. 

Despite all the critical points made above, we are still inclined to say that there is a significant probability that Neptune was the Labrador owned by Gore.

Do you have any thoughts on the theory? Feel free to share them with us in the comment section below!

JK Spallek & Katie Pitt
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