PRESENTATION 



OF THE 



GOLD MEDALS 



To Lady FRANKLIN and to Captain Sir F. L. M'CLINTOCK. 



The President, the Earl de Grey and Ripon, read the following 

 statements explanatory of the grounds on which the Council had 

 awarded the Royal Medals respectively : — 



Desirous of commemorating in an especial manner the Arctic 

 researches of our associate the late Sir John Franklin, and of testi- 

 fying to the fact that his expedition was the first to discover a 

 North- West Passage, the Council of the Royal Geographical Society 

 have awarded the Founder's Gold Medal to his widow, Lady Frank- 

 lin, in token of their admiration of her noble and self-sacrificing 

 perseverance in sending out, at her own cost, several searching 

 expeditions, until at length the fate of her husband has been finally 

 ascertained. 



The Council has farther adjudicated the Patron's Gold Medal to 

 Captain Sir F. L. M'Clintock, r.n., for the consummate skill and 

 unflinching fortitude with which, in the Fox yacht, he and his 

 gallant companions have not only enlarged our acquaintance with 

 Arctic geography, but have also brought to light the precious 

 *' Record " which has revealed to us the voyage and final abandon- 

 ment of the Erehus and Terror. 



^ In making these awards, it is but right to recall attention to some 

 of the leading facts connected with this subject. 



Having already taken part in two of Nelson's glorious victories 

 and in other battles of the old war. Sir John Franklin began his 

 Arctic explorations in the years 1818 to 1822, and subsequently, by 

 his researches in 1825 to 1827, he had already acquired a renown 

 second only to that of Parry. Aspiring, however, to the supremo 

 object of his ambition — the discovery of a North- West Passage — he 

 again left our shores in 1845 to accomplish that great mission. 



K 2 



