Icebound In the Arctic by Michael Smith

Author:Michael Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The O'Brien Press
Published: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

The pity is that Ross’ warm and sincere words of praise for his old friend were written after Crozier’s death.

The other cause of Crozier’s emotional turmoil was the unfulfilled relationship with Sophy Cracroft. Despite the earlier rejection of his marriage proposal, Crozier had not given up hope of changing her mind. Indeed, there was renewed urgency in his pursuit since marriage might be a catalyst for a new life away from the navy. In addition, Sophy, now twenty-eight years old, was reaching an age when a woman at the time considered settling down and raising a family.

Matters came to a head in June 1844 when Sophy unexpectedly returned to England with Sir John and Lady Franklin. The Franklins had been forced out of Van Diemen’s Land by political manoeuvring at the Colonial Office and Franklin, by perverse fortune, found himself in much the same position as Crozier.

Crozier eagerly seized the opportunity to pursue Sophy – perhaps too eagerly. The pair met many times during the summer of 1844, with Crozier becoming increasingly insistent. But she resisted his attentions and once again turned down his proposal. Sophy was adamant, re-emphasising that she had no intention of becoming a sea captain’s wife.

It is easy to understand Sophy Cracroft’s reluctance. Crozier in 1844 was not an attractive proposition. His grey hair and middle-aged spread hinted at someone carrying the burdens of arduous decades at sea and looking a little more than his forty-seven years. McCormick, the surgeon on Erebus, described Crozier as a ‘somewhat heavy man’.

Crozier had sacrificed himself to the sea and his prospects were not very promising. All he could offer was the lonely existence of a sea captain’s wife or the unappealing alternative of naval half-pay – a modest 14s 9d a day (about £45 in current terms).

Crozier, without a grand estate or ample farmlands to generate a decent income, had lived most of adult life out of a trunk. He had little money and few possessions. By contrast, Sophy was more accustomed to the style and glamour of a colonial governor’s household or London society, where she found no shortage of male callers. Even Crozier called himself a ‘halfpay bachelor’.

The state of Crozier’s mind began to alarm the two people who knew him best: Ross and Jane Franklin. Both were concerned that in pursuing Sophy his behaviour had become increasingly erratic. Lady Franklin, sensing the danger, wrote to Ross:

There is another matter on which I wish to speak to you but I think it had better not be in writing – it relates to Captain Crozier and Sophy under present circumstances. I shall be glad of your advice … I wish to tell you what Sophy writes to me on the subject.2

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