My illustrated lecture about HMS RESOLUTE was well received at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, on 28 October 2009.

I began the lecture by singing "Lady Franklin's Lament, and finished with the song I wrote about RESOLUTE.

A lively discussion and questions and answers followed before members enjoyed refreshments and were able to buy copies of my book at the museum's book shop. 

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29 June 2009

RESOLUTE was in the news this past weekend, in an article in the Guardian newspaper.  Unfortunately, the facts were not correct:                                                                                     
1. The article said that HMS RESOLUTE was built at the Chatham Dockyard. This is incorrect. The only connection she had with Chatham was that she was broken up there in 1879, and the desk that is in the Oval Office today, and that was made at Queen Victoria's request, was created in a loft at Chatham.

2. The Guardian called RESOLUTE a gun brig.

She was no such thing!!!

She was an Arctic exploration vessel, employed in 1850- 1851, and 1852-1854 to search for the lost explorer Franklin. 

She had absolutely nothing to do with war.

In fact, quite to the contrary, when the Crimean War broke out during her 1852-1854 expedition Sir Edward Belcher's orders from the Admiralty specifically ordered him to engage in NO hostilities should he encounter a Russian ship in the Canadian Arctic. International agreements had been made to exempt any exploration vessl from any hostilities from any nation.

In fact, after she had been salvaged by an American whaler in 1855,

RESOLUTE helped to prevent the last war

that was brewing between Britain and the USA in 1855-1856. This is why Queen Victoria requested that the desk be made from her timbers when she was broken up, and why the desk in the Oval Office is such a symbol for the alliance bewteen the 2 countries.

RESOLUTE has been in the news these past two weeks, due to the gifts exchanged between Prime Minister Brown and President Obama. 
    The most significant gift Prime Minister Brown gave President Obama was RESOLUTE’s commissioning papers. RESOLUTE and the desk in the Oval Office made from her timbers represent the special relationship between Britain and the States because the ship helped to prevent a war between the two countries in 1856. Additionally,  some articles say that RESOLUTE was used in the campaign against slavery. This is not so. She was an Arctic exploration ship, which was sent into the Arctic to search for the lost explorer, Sir John Franklin in 1852. After 2 years of searching the squadron commander, Sir Edward Belcher, abandoned 4 out of 5 of the ships that were under his command. A year and 5 months after she had been abandoned, an American whaler, named Buddington, saw RESOLUTE drifting in the ice pack in Davis Strait. He salvaged her, and brought her home to New London, Connecticut on Christmas Eve 1855. And he sailed into a political storm. At the beginning of 1856, Britain and America were on the brink of war. (Among other hostile actions, Britain sent a fleet of ships to just outside American waters, and the States closed the British Embassy and sent the Ambassador home: truly 11:59 p.m. when midnight is war!) But then one of the most vocal war mongers suddenly did an about face, and proposed to Congress that the US buy the ship, refurbish it to a high standard, and sail it over as a gift to Queen Victoria. After RESOLUTE arrived at Spithead in December 1856 all talk of war dissipated. Later, in 1879, when she went to the breaker’s dock at Chatham, Queen Victoria had several desks made from her timbers, the most famous of which is the one in the Oval Office. She gave this desk to the president and people of the United States as a thank you for the return of the ship, as well as an acknowledgement of the special relationship between the two countries.
    In the news, many call HMS GANNET, from which the pen holder given to President Obama was made, a sister ship to RESOLUTE. She was no such thing! HMS RESOLUTE was powered by sail ands built to sustain Arctic conditions. Originally a barque named PTARMIGAN, she had been built with private funds for the East India trade, but was purchased and refit for Arctic service by the Admiralty in February 1850 from Mssrs. Smith in Newcastle for the sum of £10,777.  RESOLUTE was a little over 400 tons, and 115 feet long, in service from 1850 - 1854, 1856-1879.
    The GANNET that was in the Royal Navy in 1852 was built in Britain at Chatham dockyard by the Admiralty,  was 2,590 tons, 213 feet in length, carried 90 guns, and was in service from 1840 - 1863. The GANNET  that is the source of the wood for the pen holder was built at Sheerness in 1878, was powered by both sail and steam and had a hull constructed from teak on an iron frame, and was launch at Chatham in 1879. This GANNET has recently undergone a £3m restoration and is now on display at The Historic Dockyard Chatham,  Neither GANNET resembled RESOLUTE, in either build or service. The only connection the 2nd GANNET shared with RESOLUTE is the loft at the Chatham Dockyard where the desks made from RESOLUTE and the pen holder made from GANNET were both created. This loft has been refurbished and can be viewed by visitors.
        Ever since 1856 the United States and Britain have been allies, and, though the relationship has been strained a few times since, we have settled our differences through diplomacy, not on the battlefield. That two such great enemy nations made this transition peacefully is something to be celebrated, and honoured. Being allies does not mean that two countries will always, or SHOULD always agree. It not-so-simply means that the disagreements will be aired and hopefully resolved through words, not swords. That $44,000 spent in 1856 for RESOLUTE's refurbishment continues to pay a huge peace dividend today.
    Is the relationship one sided? Over the 150 years since the Americans bought, refurbished, and sailed RESOLUTE back to Britain there have been times when America has given support to Britain, and others when Britain has supported the States. But focusing on that question is, as my mother used to say: putting the em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LA-ble, i.e. where it doesn’t belong. Though it is regrettable that the president did not have adequate advise about what would have been appropriate gifts to give to the British prime minister, celebrating and emulating the peaceful change these two enemies made so long ago would make today’s world a better place. There are certainly many countries that need to make a similar transition from being deadly enemies to, if not allies, then at least no longer warring enemies.

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I will be giving my lecture about

HMS RESOLUTE

this autumn at the

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich,

as part of their year long exhibit called:

THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE: AN ARCTIC OBSESSION.

I will be lecturing on

Wednesday, October 28th,

a week after Trafalgar Day,

to the museum members. Why don't you join the museum so that you can come along and hear the details of this fascinating story?

http://www.nmm.ac.uk

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TO SCHEDULE A LECTURE,

OR BOOK SIGNING,

PLEASE CONTACT ELIZABETH THROUGH

THIS WEBSITE

OR AT:

RWYCresolute@hotmail.com.

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ACKNOWLEDGED BY OTHER MARITIME HISTORIANS AS THE WORLD'S LEADING EXPERT ON THE RESOLUTE STORY, ELIZABETH MATTHEWS PRESENTS AN ILLUSTRATED TALK, USING POWERPOINT, TO TELL THE TALE OF HMS RESOLUTE. SENT INTO THE ARCTIC IN 1852 TO FIND THE LOST EXPLORER, FRANKLIN, SHE WAS ABANDONED, AND THEN SALVAGED BY AN AMERICAN WHALER. WHEN BRITAIN AND AMERICA WERE ON THE BRINK OF THEIR 3RD WAR, THE SHIP BECAME THE FOCUS OF THE TENSIONS...AND THEN HISTORY WAS CHANGED FOREVER!

 PRE-CIVIL WAR POLITICS WERE PUSHING AMERICA TO THE BRINK OF WAR WITH BRITAIN WHEN A WHALER OUT OF NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT BROUGHT HMS RESOLUTE HOME ON LITTLE CHRISTMAS EVE 1855. THROUGH UNEXPECTED TWISTS AND TURNS, THIS TALE CHRONICLES THE PEACEFUL TRANSITION THAT THE TWO POWERFUL AND GREAT NATIONS MAKE FROM BEING ENEMIES TO BEING ALLIES. 

 RESOLUTE'S STORY WILL APPEAL TO ANYONE WHO DARES TO HOPE THAT

CHANGE CAN HAPPEN THROUGH PEACE, NOT WAR!!!

MRS. MATTHEWS' WORK OF HISTORICAL FICTION IS BASED ON YEARS OF METICULOUS RESEARCH, AND HER LECTURE IS THE UN-EMBELLISHED HISTORY WHICH FORMS THE FOUNDATION UPON WHICH HER BOOK WAS WRITTEN.

 BECAUSE THE FRANKLIN STORY IS THE JUMPING OFF PLACE FOR THE RESOLUTE STORY, ELIZABETH BEGINS HER LECTURE BY SINGING LADY FRANKLIN'S LAMENT, ACCOMPANYING HERSELF ON GUITAR. LATER ON, WHILE EXPLAINING HOW THE EXPLORERS CUT DOCKS INTO THE ARCTIC ICE FOR THEIR SHIPS, SHE TEACHES THE AUDIENCE A SEA SHANTY: THE SAME ONE SHE USES IN HER BOOK. THE LECTURE IS LIVELY AND FAST PACED, WITH TIME FOR QUESTIONS AT THE END.

THE DURATION OF THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION IS 45 MINUTES.

A SHORTER 20 MINUTE TALK CAN BE PRESENTED FOR A LESS SCHOLARLY YET STILL INFORMATIVE AND ENTERTAINING OVERVIEW OF HMS RESOLUTE'S UNIQUE STORY.

**NEWS*NEWS*NEWS*NEWS*NEWS*NEWS*NEWS*NEWS**

I am currently working on the

non-fiction version of the RESOLUTE story.

This new book will include all of the research that supported my book of historical fiction, which was published in November 2007.

You can read the first chapter from the manuscript NOW on this website!

Just go to the page "The New Book!"

2007: December: participant in local authors' night, Waterstones, Chiswick, London 

2007: December: Book signing, Waterstones Bookshop, Chiswick, London 

3 Jan 2008: appearance on television regarding HMS RESOLUTE and upcoming events

5 Jan 2008: book signing at the Epilogue Bookstore, Steamboat Springs, CO 

20 Jan 2008: talk and book signing at the Cultural Legacy Bookstore, Denver, CO

24 Jan 2008: talk and book signing at Peak to Peak Rotary Club, Colorado

6 Feb 2008: lecture and powerpoint presentation at the Boulder Public Library, Boulder, CO

17 Feb 2008: talk and book signing, at the Book Cellar, Chicago, IL

23 Feb 2008: talk and book signing at the Royal Navy Museum, Portsmouth, England 

This event was particularly exciting, because, for the book signing, I was able to use the RESOLUTE DESK that Queen Victoria hadmade for her private yacht! It was very exciting for me to be able to actually touch some of the wood that was part of HMS RESOLUTE!!

 22 May 2008: talk and book signing:Larnaca Marina, Larnaca, Cyprus

10 October 2008 Lecture: Bristol Aztec Rotary Club, Bristol, England.

12 October 2008 ILLUSTRATED TALK AND BOOK SIGNING

American Museum, Bath, England

3 December 2008 American Embassy talk and book signing.

22 APRIL 2009: American Embassy Spring Bazaar...book signing and sale.