John Rae, trader, explorer (b in Orkney Is 30 Sept 1813; d at London, Eng 22 July 1893). An expert boatman, swimmer and climber, Rae qualified as a surgeon in 1833, entered the Hudson's Bay Company and was posted to Moose Factory. In 1846-47 he explored the coast west from Fury and Hecla Strait to Boothia Isthmus, and in 1848 he accompanied Sir John RICHARDSON on a search for Sir John FRANKLIN. In 1851, with the same purpose, he searched the western, southern and eastern shores of VICTORIA ISLAND; much was original discovery. From an 1853-54 exploration, he brought back the first authentic tidings of the Franklin disaster (see FRANKLIN SEARCH). In 1860 Rae was employed to carry out the land part of a survey for a projected telegraph line from Great Britain to North America by way of the Faeroes, Iceland and Greenland. In 1864, for a similar purpose, he carried out a survey from Winnipeg to the Rocky Mountains. He spent his later life in London. Rae was supremely gifted in arctic survival, living off the country in comparative comfort and security. But he lacked a proclivity for self-advertisement, and his modesty permitted Vilhjalmur STEFANSSON to appropriate the honours owing to him.
 Rae, JohnDr John Rae at Repulse Bay, 1846, by Charles Comfort (courtesy Hudson's Bay Co Archives/PAM).
 Arctic Exploration, Map
Author
L.H. NEATBY
Links to Other Sites
Exploration of the Northwest Passage
An overview of European expeditions to Canada’s northern Arctic region from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Brief bios, illustrations, maps, and other reference material. An Industry Canada website.
Hudson's Bay Company: Heritage
This colourful HBC website documents over 300 years of company history. Features illustrated biographies of prominent personalities, an online art collection, e-books, historical games, timelines, interactive maps, and much more.
Frozen Ocean
A superb online exhibit about the search for the Northwest Passage. Historic maps and images from books show how the Inuit assisted foreign led expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and how European explorers gradually accepted Inuit techniques of travel and survival. Contemporary maps show the lasting achievement of the expeditions: the mapping of the Canadian Arctic. From the Toronto Public Library.
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