John Smart Peddie (1816–1848) was a Scottish physician from Inverkeithing who served as surgeon of HMS Terror on Franklin's lost expedition.
Career John obtained his licence of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh as assistant surgeon in 1836.Johnson, Rev. J. (1981). Inverkeithing past and present (1st ed.). Dunfermline: West Fife Educational Trust.
Peddie entered service for the Royal Navy aboard HMS Sparrow on the 20th December 1836.
Franklin expedition John Smart Peddie served aboard the ill-fated HMS Terror on Franklin's expedition to find the Northwest passage. He had been promoted to the rank of Surgeon a few months after the expedition sailed. Peddie perished with the rest of the crew.McClintock, F.L. 1881. The voyage of the ‘Fox’ in the Arctic seas: A narrative of the discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin and his companions
A fiddle-pattern silver dessert spoon owned by Peddie was found in the possession of an Inuit at Repulse Bay in 1854 by the Rae Expedition. The Inuit said that they had found the material at a camp to the north west of the mouth of the Back River where a party of Europeans had died of starvation.
Following searches for the crew of HMS Terror, in 1852 Eliza Peddie wrote to Eleanor Franklin: "I quite agree with you that none of the officers are now living...They must have undergone such as we cannot contemplate without a shudder… I think like you that there is little chance of further intelligence of the missing ships...I intend to put on mourning."
Grave
Peddie is honoured on a gravestone in Inverkeithing Parish Church graveyard, his home town, along with his father and brothers.
Peddie and his daughter have a small memorial plaque in St Luke's Church in Charlton, south east London. The plaque reads:
References