Second edition: who was James Fitzjames' mother?

In 2008 when I started researching the Franklin Expedition, I was puzzled by the mysterious Captain James Fitzjames. Like a lot of other people who have investigated the lost souls of the Franklin Expedition I realised that something was concealed behind his debonair appearance and polished prose.

Just before the deadline for the publication my biography of him I uncovered categorical proof of the identity of his father - Sir James Gambier.

Now, I am pleased to say, we are right on the deadline for the second edition of the book, the manuscript of which is due at The History Press this weekend. And just in time, after more than four years searching, I am very pleased to say that I have been able to positively identify his mother too. This will form a completely fresh chapter in the book. I even have her picture!

James Fitzjames in his lifetime was never able to be open about his family and this must have caused him great anguish. He and his friends and relatives took great care to suppress the scandal. But times change and to our eyes there is no shame or scandal attached to him, so I am very privileged to have brought the truth about him to light. And I hope his true family connections, and the romance from which he stemmed, will enable historians to place him in his true position in his society.

The final lesson I have learned from this, of direct relevance to historians of the Franklin Expedition, is that no matter how intractable a historical problem, with a relentless focus on original historical research you can probably, in the end, solve it.