This study is intended to show that Lady Franklin was responsible for revealing the fate of the British naval North-West Passage expedition of 1845- 1848 and that it was specifically through her efforts that Sir John Franklin, her husband and leader of the expedition, was recognised as the discoverer of the North-West Passage. Her actions precipitated the instigation of an effective system of relief service for Arctic exploration. The analysis of Lady Franklin's achievements in these respects is contextualised within the historical and social setting of mid-Victorian Britain.