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Drawing of polar bears walking in water in summer

Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua (Qalasirssuaq)1853

Derbyshire Record Office

Derbyshire Record Office
Matlock, United Kingdom

Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua (born c.1832, died June 1856) was an Inuit, originally named Qalasirssuaq. He was born in the Thule region of northwest Greenland and acted as a guide to Captain Erasmus Ommaney, commander of HMS Assistance on an 1850 expedition to find Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. He returned with the expedition to England and was sent to St Augustine's College at Canterbury where he was taught to read and right and given religious instruction. He was baptised Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua in 1853, and Sir John Franklin's daughter, Eleanor Gell, became his godmother. He returned to Canada to become a missionary in 1855, but died soon after his arrival.

He sent this drawing was sent with two drawings of ships to his godmother, Eleanor Gell.

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  • Title: Drawing of polar bears walking in water in summer
  • Creator: Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua (Qalasirssuaq)
  • Date Created: 1853
  • Location: Arctic
  • Location Created: Canterbury, England
  • Provenance: Gell family of Hopton Hall (D8760/F/OBJ/5)
  • Subject Keywords: Inuit
Derbyshire Record Office

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