Leopold McClintock to James Clark Ross (TNA BJ 2/11), 1850-1852

These letters are all from the collection BJ 2/11 held in the National Archives at Kew. Part of the Meteorological Office and Kew Observatory archives, they are part of the Correspondence and Papers of Sir James Clark Ross (BJ 2).

Some parts of BJ 2 can be found digitalised by the National Library of Australia as they relate to Ross’ Antarctic Expedition (1838-43). As these letters are about McClintock’s employment and the search for Franklin, they are not included and therefore got prioritised by me.

Nine of the letters below are from McClintock to Ross, with the other one being to Horatio Austin, likely having been enclosed in a letter to Ross. The letters are posted below in the order in which they are in the collection, not in chronological order.

A note on transcriptions: words between square brackets indicate that a word is uncertain, either in accuracy or perceived spelling. All grammar and spelling is kept as is, including mistakes. The one instance of [X] means a hole in the paper made the word illegible. Usage of ^(…)^ means that the words were added into the sentence by being written above or below it.

A note on dates: square brackets indicate that the year was a guess based on the information in the letter and may be inaccurate.


To James Clark Ross, 14/Dec/18XX

To James Clark Ross, 8/Dec/18XX

To James Clark Ross, 9/Nov/18[51]

To James Clark Ross, 15/Oct/1851

To James Clark Ross, 18/Apr/18[52]

To James Clark Ross, 8/Mar/18[50]

To James Clark Ross, 20/Feb/18XX

To James Clark Ross, 13/Feb/18XX

To Horatio Austin, 10/Aug/1851

To James Clark Ross, 22/Jun/1852