Draft:Edward Little (Royal Navy officer)

• Comment: Your draft has the foundations for becoming an article, but a few issues need to be resolved. Firstly, all of the statements in the lede (opening paragraph) need to be supported by independent sources, either directly or in the body of the article.
  Secondly, many of your sources are unreliable (a naval wiki) or can't be verified.
  Lastly, you have claims that are only partly supported (eg Sir John Franklin visited a ship, but where is the evidence that Little was (a)on that ship and (b) met Franklin?
  Naval officers as a subject are not in my wheelhouse so forgive me if i have misunderstood anything, feel free to engage me on my talk page Flat Out (talk) 22:07, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

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Edward Little
Born	14 December 1812 London, England
Died	c. 1848
Branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Commander (Royal Navy)
Known for	Franklin's lost expedition

Edward Little (14 December 1812–c. 1848) was a British Royal Navy officer. He first served as a Lieutenant aboard the HMS Donegal. During his career he also served aboard HMS Vindictive where he first met Sir John Franklin. He volunteered to serve on the Franklin Expedition where he served under Captain Francis Crozier. The expedition's mission was to find the Northwest Passage which could make for a new sea route to China.

Early life

Edward Little was born 14 December 1812 in London, England. He was the son of Simon Little, who served as a Paymaster and Purser aboard HMS Audacious. Little was baptized on 12 January 1812 at the St. Mary's Church in the parish of Hornsey.

Naval service

Little passed his naval examination in 1832. He was promoted to the position of Lieutenant on the 30 December 1837 and the same day he started his service aboard the HMS Donegal. He served on it for three years before he left. Then he spent one year aboard HMS Britannia.

After this appointment he started his service aboard HMS Vindictive on 6 May 1842. During his time aboard HMS Vindictive, Little met Sir John Franklin and his wife when they visited the ship. A party was hosted by the crew during which Little and Lieutenant Stewart were explaining the different objects of the party. When the French captured Tahiti, HMS Vindictive was sent there for diplomatic reasons. Captain Toup Nicolas sent Little and Lieutenant Hill on a small schooner to the West Indies because the situation on Tahiti became more complicated. The route meant that they had to walk overland at Panama. His service aboard HMS Vindictive officially ended when he arrived back to England. After a short discharge he served aboard HMS Victory and HMS Albion

Franklin Expedition

Little signed up for HMS Terror on 4 March 1845, just a few weeks before the expedition set sail. In one of his letters Crozier described Little as "really a very superior fellow." During this time he was promoted in absentia to the rank of Commander by the Admiralty on 9 November 1846.

All of the crew members were officially declared dead in the March of 1854. No personal belongings have been found nor any remains have been identified as belonging to Little.

Legacy

Little Point on the western side of King William Island was named after him. Southeast from this location were found 23 human bones, belonging to at least two individuals.

Little appears as a secondary character in the 2007 novel The Terror written by Dan Simmons, as well as the 2018 television adaptation, where he is played by Matthew McNulty.

References

Category:Franklin's Lost expedition Category:1811 births Category:1840s deaths Category:Explorers of the Arctic Category:Lost explorers