Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Taktsang Lhakhang, also known as the “Tiger’s Nest”.
Bhutan • 11 days, 10 nights
Festivals & Temples of Bhutan
from
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Mosaic in Beachfront Park.
Tsunami Walking Tour
Madam Yoko’s gravesite.
Madam Yoko’s Grave
Garden path.
Garden of the Presidential Mansion
Anabaptist Cages
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The Golden Gate Bridge as seen from the Marin Headlands at sunrise.
Listener Stories of Leaving Home: From San Francisco to Japan
about 17 hours ago
Aerial view of Bell Labs Holmdel
How the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex Inspired ‘Severance’
1 day ago
Omni Parker House Hotel
The Omni Parker House: Inside the History of Boston’s Most Iconic Hotel
3 days ago
The cute capybara.
Animal Takeover: Brace Yourself for Adorable Hordes
4 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United Kingdom Scotland Edinburgh Grave of Lieutenant John Irving

Grave of Lieutenant John Irving

This grave marks one of few bodies retrieved from the disastrous Franklin Arctic expedition.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Added By
DJ Holzhueter
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
An etching of the expedition   Ammienoot/CC BY-SA 4.0
An etching of the expedition   Ammienoot/CC BY-SA 4.0
Irving’s gravestone   ACReynard / Atlas Obscura User
The story of the Franklin expedition   ACReynard / Atlas Obscura User
A symbol of the stone grave   ACReynard / Atlas Obscura User
An engraving of Irving’s medal   ACReynard / Atlas Obscura User
An etching of the expedition   ACReynard / Atlas Obscura User
Irving’s grave   Ammienoot/CC BY-SA 4.0
West Gate   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  rbenn250 / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Backside, Modern Two in the distance   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  Snowdrop68 / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

In 1845, a group of British explorers set out on a voyage to map the final link of the fabled Northwest Passage. The expedition, led by Sir John Franklin, not only failed to locate the link but ended in disaster and mystery. Of the 128 intrepid souls who accompanied Franklin, very few bodies were brought back to England. One of them, Lieutenant John Irving, rests peacefully in a quiet, unassuming corner of Edinburgh's Dean Cemetery.

In 1815, John Irving was born on Princes Street in Edinburgh to a well-to-do family. His father was a childhood friend of Sir Walter Scott, and Irving's youth was filled with reminders of the family's famous connections, including the construction of the Scott Memorial only a few blocks away from their home. In 1828, Irving joined the Royal Navy and slowly advanced the ranks from midshipman to his promotion to lieutenant. His time in the Navy was tumultuous, and he was forced to return to Edinburgh after several failed ventures, including a sojourn to Australia where he nearly died from a prolonged case of dysentery.

Irving's fortunes turned in 1845 when he received an assignment for the HMS Terror, which would be charting the last section of the Northwest Passage along with the HMS Erebus. The assignment was to be done under captain and Arctic veteran Sir John Franklin, and Irving in particular was to serve under Terror's captain Francis R.M. Crozier. 

The last known sighting of the ships was in July of 1845 by some whalers off the coast of Greenland. After two years with no word from, the Admiralty sent a search party to seek out the expedition. They found evidence of an early camp, but nothing else until 1854, when the explorer John Rae met an Inuk who described a group of men who had died of starvation near the mouth of the Back River. Over the next few years, search parties discovered the remains of several members of the crew, including Irving, along with some written records. They tell of frozen-in vessels, starvation, illness, and a long march south that ended in the deaths of every man aboard.

In 1879, the American explorer Frederick Schwatka set out in search of more records. On the barren stretches of King William Island, he and his companions found a grave, which had been ransacked by animals. Little remained, save for pieces of canvas, a shredded coat, parts of a telescope, and a tiny mathematics prize medal emblazoned with the name of John Irving, 3rd Lieutenant of HMS Terror. Moved by the sight, Schwatka had the bones exhumed and sent to Scotland.

Irving's remains were brought to Edinburgh where he was given a funeral before being interred with full honors on January 7th, 1881. The funeral was well-covered by Scottish press, as many saw the act as a final close on the fates of the men of the Franklin expedition. In Dean Cemetery, Irving's grave is marked with a tall Celtic cross with his name, an epitaph recalling the story of his death and recovery of his remains, and a Bible verse. Below the verse is a carving of the math medal identifying Irving's body, an etching of an imagined funeral in the Arctic, and a stack of rocks symbolizing the stone grave where Irving's body was found.

Some question has been called as to the identity of the body interred in the grave, with some scholars wondering if it truly is John Irving. Others see it as pointless to wonder, as regardless of its identity, some part of the Franklin expedition was put to rest in this quiet corner of Edinburgh.

Related Tags

Death Gravestones Cemeteries Exploration Arctic Graves

Know Before You Go

Dean Cemetery is an active cemetery, please be respectful of other visitors. October through March it is open from Monday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to dusk. April through September it is open from Monday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The gravesite is fairly easy to find, it is not far from the westerly gate that leads to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two). At the backside of the museum there is a free parking lot.

Community Contributors

Added By

ACReynard

Edited By

SEANETTA, rbenn250, Michelle Cassidy, Snowdrop68

  • SEANETTA
  • rbenn250
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • Snowdrop68

Published

February 5, 2020

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/04/franklin-expedition-ship-watson-ice-ghosts/
  • https://canadianmysteries.ca/sites/franklin/archive/text/IrvingLetter_en.htm
Grave of Lieutenant John Irving
63 Dean Path
Edinburgh, Scotland, EH4 3AT
United Kingdom
55.953056, -3.222536
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

The Paolozzi Studio

Edinburgh, Scotland

miles away

Library of Mistakes

Edinburgh, Scotland

miles away

St. Bernard's Well

Edinburgh, Scotland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Scotland

Places 184
Stories 7

Nearby Places

The Paolozzi Studio

Edinburgh, Scotland

miles away

Library of Mistakes

Edinburgh, Scotland

miles away

St. Bernard's Well

Edinburgh, Scotland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Scotland

Places 184
Stories 7

Related Stories and Lists

History Tour: Adventures at the Poles

List

By Jessica Leigh Hester

Related Places

  • Graves of Beechey Island in the snow

    Nunavut

    Graves of Beechey Island

    The remote graves mark the mysterious deaths of four 19th century explorers.

  • Framingham, Massachusetts

    Graves of John Cloyce & Abraham Rice

    In 1777, two men were killed after being struck by lightning at the same time.

  • Charles F. Mills Grave Bell

    Thunderbolt, Georgia

    Charles F. Mills Grave Bell

    A 19th-century cemetery device to ensure that the prematurely buried would be "saved by the bell."

  • Flowers growing on a mass grave.

    Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery

    This memorial complex contains several mass graves for victims of the Siege of Leningrad.

  • A beautiful tomb.

    Aguascalientes, Mexico

    Los Ángeles and La Cruz Graveyards

    Legends, sculptures, and unique tombs can be seen lurking in these connected cemeteries.

  • Victoria, British Columbia

    Ross Bay Cemetery

    This stately Victorian-era burial ground overlooking the Pacific Ocean is home to the graves of some of British Columbia's most famous figures.

  • The backside of the grave, which features the fudge recipe.

    Logan, Utah

    'Kay's Fudge' Gravestone

    Kay Andrews's recipe was so good, her family immortalized it in stone.

  • Two foam-green crypts with planters.

    Oaxaca, Mexico

    Panteón General (General Cemetery)

    This graveyard boasts a medley of diverse and imaginative funeral architecture.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.