ADRIAN Gell, the great great great grandson of Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin, said he was “thrilled” when he heard of the discovery of one of the Royal Navy officer’s ships.

The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were last seen in 1845 under the command of Sir John on the expedition to navigate the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic.

Now sonar images off King William Island have revealed the wreckage of one of the two ships and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the discovery as a “historic moment for Canada”.

Mr Gell, 54, who lives in Idbury, West Oxfordshire, said: “It is incredibly exciting – perhaps there will be further evidence on board as to what happened to that sad and fateful mission.

“I’m absolutely thrilled because it has been one of the extraordinary maritime mysteries ever since Sir John Franklin and those ships disappeared.”

Mr Gell, a garden designer and silhouette painter, said he was brought up being told all about Sir John’s exploits and the family had a room at their home at Hopton Hall, Derbyshire, dedicated to artefacts and letters from him.

The home was sold by Mr Gell’s grandmother in the 1980s and the items donated to the National Maritime Museum in London.

Thirty-nine expeditions were sent to rescue Sir John and his men and it later emerged that he had died in June 1847 after the ships got trapped in ice.

The rescue operations lasted from 1845 to 1859 but the vessels were never found.

Mr Gell, added: “I think there is a record of the fact that Sir John was buried.

“I don’t think he was eaten by polar bears or members of his crew – some of them reputedly resorted to cannibalism.”

He was not told about Sunday’s discovery until Tuesday, when he was informed by one of the Canadian agencies involved in the search.

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