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National Maritime Museum

Lee, Dr John, lawyer and scientist (1783-1866)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0064 HAR/301-359

Held at: National Maritime Museum

Title: Lee, Dr John, lawyer and scientist (1783-1866)

Date(s): [1850-1856]

Level of description: sub-fonds

Extent: 1 box

Name of creator(s): Lee | John | 1783-1866 | lawyer and scientist

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born John Fiott, brother of William Edward Fiott, Lee changed his name on inheriting property from his mother's family. In 1827 he also inherited the estate of Hartwell in Buckinghamshire. Lee was keenly interested in science and antiquities and was an active member of the Temperance Movement. The collection was used by E S Dodge, The Polar Roses (London, 1973).

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Dr John Fiott consisting of forty-three letters written to Lee by Rear-Admiral Sir John Ross (1777-1856) and some papers, mainly printed, relating to the organisation of the FELIX expedition of 1850 to 1851 in search of Sir John Franklin. The earlier letters refer to this voyage, which was unsuccessful in finding Franklin. The later letters contain many references to Ross's participation in scientific societies, and in particular to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. There are critical comments on the official expeditions searching for Franklin. The letters also deal with the translation and publication in 1856 of a memoir of the Russian circumnavigator Admiral Krusenstern (1770-1846). There are many references to events in and around Ross's home town of Stranraer.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Finding aids:

Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers were purchased by Sir James Caird at Sotheby's in 1939 and form part of the Hartwell papers sold by Mrs Benedict Eyre.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

There are further papers relating to Lee in the Hartwell Collection in the Buckinghamshire Record Office.

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Jul 2011.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: 2010-08-26


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Expeditions | Travel
Polar regions | Climatic zones

Personal names
Franklin | Sir | John | 1786-1847 | Knight | Rear Admiral | Arctic explorer
Lee | John Fiott | 1783-1866 | lawyer, antiquary, astronomer and geologist
Ross | Sir | John | 1777-1856 | Knight | Arctic explorer | Rear Admiral

Corporate names
British Association for the Advancement of Science

Places
Scotland | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Arctic