Franklin also served as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) from 1837 to 1843. He disappeared on his last expedition, attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. The icebound ships were abandoned and the entire crew perished from starvation, hypothermia, tuberculosis, lead poisoning and scurvy.

In September 2014, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, announced that the wreck of HMS Erebus, one of the two ships from Franklin's final voyage, had been rediscovered.

On 12 September 2016, it was announced that the Arctic Research Foundation expedition had found the wreck of HMS Terror south of King William Island in Terror Bay and in 'pristine' condition.