Four Rusty Tin Cans in Three Different Sizes

 

In January 2024 I had the pleasure of visiting the beautiful and historic city of Bath to attend a fantastic presentation by Logan Zachary about the Franklin Relics in the collection of the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI).

What a great occasion it was! I had not heard Logan give a talk before but I was blown away both by the superbly organised subject matter and the excellence of his delivery. I look forward to the next time.

The relics which interested me most were, of course, the four battered Goldner cans of varying sizes.
There is one one-pound can, two two-pound cans, and a single four-pound can. The latter has been roughly cut down and the ragged edge flared out slightly presumably as an improvised cooking vessel.

This brings to mind comments by Thomas Tassell Grant in his evidence to the 1852 Select Committee on Preserved Meats that it had been reported that "these cannisters were used by the troops for camp kettles when emptied." He also noted "I am bound to say this, that the tin used generally by Goldner is stronger and better than the tin used by other contractors"

These days we refer to "tinplate" as a material. In the nineteenth century the phrase was "tinned plates" - individual sheets of iron covered with a thin layer of tin by the labour of skilled artisans.
The plates were supplied in a variety of standard sizes and that was what determined the sizes of the cans. 

The one and two pound cans were made from plates of the size referred to as "Four Cross No. 1" which were 13.75  by 10 inches (349 by 250 mm) in size and approximately 0.6 mm thick. Cut into three strips sideways it can make the cylindrical parts for three one pound cans or cut in two lengthways it supplies the cylinders for two two pound cans.

The four pound cans were made from plates of the size referred to as "Four Cross Doubles" which were 16.75  by 12.5 inches (425 by 318 mm) in size and approximately 0.8 mm thick. These are cut in half lengthways to make cylinders for two cans.

One small mystery is that the base of the four pound can in the BRLSI collection has three small lumps around the circumference, apparently blobs of solder. My guess would be that they are to prevent cans from sticking together if they are stacked up when the paint isn't completely dry.

Ironically, the vast majority of cans supplied to the Franklin expedition were the large four pound size, while most of the surviving examples in the collection of the National Maritime Museum are the small one pound ones. As far as I know the only four pound can at Greenwich is one which was repurposed as a water canteen.

 

 

Another small revelation was that on one can a fragment of paper had survived which was the long sought missing piece of the puzzle. When, a few years ago, I examined all the Goldner cans in the NMM's reserve collection at what is now the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre, one piece eluded me. Now I can add the words "Finsbury Circus London" which were missing from my previous reconstruction. Just a tiny detail but I was pleased to find it!