Commander Edward Little

    The goal of this blog is to present a comprehensive compilation of the life of Edward Little, Royal Navy Commander, mostly known for his part in the ill-fated Franklin Expedition & whose early life mostly remains undiscovered

His family history gives us an insight into the life of a 19th century family closely tied to the Royal Navy, during a time of vast socioeconomic changes 

All my research is ongoing, I mostly find information in various archives and newspapers, these findings are subject to updates and reexaminations

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

The Aftermath of the Franklin Expedition

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To this day , no letter between the Little family members has been found, either before or after Edward's disappearance in the arctic, but some archives and newspapers give up a glimpse of how the expedition affected the family life   The Relief Expedition meeting In 1857, James Cornelius Little, Edward's eldest brother, took part in a meeting centered around Lady Jane Franklin's effort to send another expedition in search of her husband and his crew. James Cornelius was described as "an esteemed resident" [of Jersey] and the he " had taken a lively interest in the proceedings of this meeting. He had to deplore the loss of a brother in the ill-fated expedition of Sir John Franklin. He was happy to have the opportunity to express his thanks to the gentlemen who had taken the initiative in the proceedings. " James Cornelius also subscribed to the cause by donating 10£   ¹ (which according to the TNA currency converter , would be around 590£ in 2017)
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Edward Little's birthplace & baptism

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     Edward's birth and baptism places aren't as easy to pinpoint as we could think, so here is everything I gathered on the subject :  (With some speculations on my part because some documents contradict each other )   Edward Little was born on 14 December 1911 from Sarah Little (née Hayter) and Simon Little, he was baptised in St Mary's church, Hornsey, on Jan 12th 1812  ¹ St Mary's Church Tower, Hornsey, Februrary 2025, taken by the author   The old medieval church was first mentioned in a papal taxation list of 1291, but by the 1820s the building was dilapidated and it was knocked down in 1832. After that, two new churches were built on these grounds, but none of them remains today, the third church was demolished in 1969, the churchyard was closed in 1892. Today, only the bell tower from the first church still stands, surrounded by a park and a Primary school playground ²
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The Court Martial Testimony

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When I first came across this article, I couldn't be sure that it mentioned the same Edward Little. But now that we know about his early service record, we know that he was indeed serving aboard HMS Dublin as mate (from Nov 1831 to Oct 1834)  So, he's most certainly the one mentioned here : ¹   Albion and the Star , 26 Sep 1834    " A Mr. Edward Little, mate, was brought forward as witness, to prove Mr. Christie's assaulting him. The manner in which this Gentleman gave his evidence called forth the animadversions of the Court ."  There is more newspapers covering the full trial (but with no other mention of Little) : ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶
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