Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Northwest Passage

Kirkwall was first mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga in 1046, when it was recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason, Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn Sigurdsson (aka Thorfinn the Mighty) on the island of Stronsay. St Magnus Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in Scotland and the most northerly cathedral in the United Kingdom - an example of architecture built when the islands were ruled by the Norse Earls of Orkney. In 1137 the cathedral was founded by Jarl Rögnvald Kali Kolsson. The church was entrusted to the patronage of Saint Magnus Erlendsson, an uncle of the founder. Before the Reformation, the cathedral belonged to the Archdiocese of Trondheim. After Orkney had become part of the Scottish kingdom, the cathedral was handed over to the burgh of Kirkwall in 1486. During the Reformation worship was reformed in 1560. However, unlike many churches in Scotland, there was no iconoclasm. Today, the cathedral is used by the Church of Scotland. The oldest parts of the cathedral are the transept, the choir and the east side of the nave. The cathedral was built in a mixture of northwest European, Romanesque-Norman and early Gothic styles. The east side ended in an apse in the 12th century. Only speculation is known about the west building. A double-towered facade is said to have been planned in the 13th century. The most recent parts of the cathedral are in the west. The memorial of John Rae John Rae was born in Orphir in 1813. After studying medicine in Edinburgh, he entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company as a doctor. On their behalf, he undertook a research trip in 1846-48 to complete the mapping of Hudson Bay. He returned to the Arctic as second in command in Sir John Richardson’s search party looking for the lost Franklin Expedition. In 1849 Richardson returned to England while Rae continued to explore the coastline to Wollaston Land by boat with six men. A third Arctic expedition in 1851 saw the first trace of Franklin’s missing ships when Rae found a piece of wood and a part of a flagstaff containing the remnants of cloth. He was awarded the Founder’s Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1852 for his discoveries of 1846–47 and 1851. His expedition of 1853-4 saw him make the important discovery that King William Land was an island. His discovery of Rae Strait was the last link in a navigable Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, which was successfully used by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1903-06. Rae also met Inuit who told him that a party of around 40 white men had died of starvation on King William Island, resorting to cannibalism in a final attempt to stay alive. He returned to London with the sad news of the fate of Sir John Franklin and the crews of his two ships, only to enter a storm of controversy. His report, containing the reports of cannibalism, was issued to The Times by the Admiralty. Lady Franklin rallied support from Charles Dickens who vilified the Inuit as savages and liars in his magazine. Lady Franklin destroyed Rae’s reputation, while erecting a bust in Westminster Abbey proclaiming Franklin as the discoverer of the Northwest Passage. Rae was finally awarded the £10,000 reward for news of the fate of the Franklin expedition, which he shared with his party. Returning to Canada in 1856, he worked on surveying the route for a telegraph link from Britain to Canada, via Iceland and Greenland. In 1865 he surveyed the Red River to Victoria for another telegraph link from America to Russia. He retired to Orkney, before moving to London. Rae was a highly respected explorer, his respect of the indigenous peoples of Canada made him many friends there. He died on 22nd July 1893. His body was taken north for burial in the grounds of St Magnus Cathedral