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## The Second Identification: Fitzjames After John Gregory
The identification of Fitzjames in September 2024 was not the first DNA identification from the Franklin expedition. The first had been announced in May 2021, when researchers from the University of Waterloo, Lakehead University, and Trent University identified John Gregory, a warrant officer who had served as an engineer aboard HMS Erebus.
Gregory’s identification came from tooth and bone samples excavated at Erebus Bay on King William Island in 2013. The comparison DNA came from a cheek swab provided by Jonathan Gregory, identified as a great-great-great-grandson. The identification was published and confirmed Gregory as the first expedition member identified through DNA analysis.
Gregory’s rank — warrant officer and engineer — was senior but not in the same category as Fitzjames. The 2024 identification of Fitzjames added the first commissioned officer, the first captain, and the highest-ranking member yet identified to the confirmed list.
The same research team — Stenton, Park at Waterloo, and Fratpietro at Lakehead’s Paleo-DNA lab — was responsible for both identifications.
After the Fitzjames announcement, the researchers explicitly called for more living descendants of Franklin expedition members to come forward with DNA samples. The logic was simple: the identification methodology works when a living descendant can be found and their genetic material compared against specimens from the site. The more descendant samples available for comparison, the more specimens might be identified from the 451 bones at NgLj-2 and from other expedition sites.
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## The 2026 Identifications: Four More Names
The identification of Fitzjames in 2024 was followed, in May 2026, by the announcement of four further identifications — bringing the total number of Franklin expedition members identified by DNA to six.