Editing John Rae (explorer) (section)

== Early life ==
Rae was born as the sixth of nine children at the [[Hall of Clestrain]] in [[Orkney]] in the north of [[Scotland]] with family ties to [[Clan MacRae]]. His father managed up to 300 tenant farmers for a local nobleman, [[William Honyman, Lord Armadale|Sir William Honyman, Lord Armadale]] and worked for many years as the Hudson Bay Company's chief representative on the Orkney islands when it came to hiring workers amongst the Orkney men that had a reputation of being hardy and skilled labourers. Already in his childhood the young John Rae learned many skills that would become useful to his later explorations. By the age of fifteen, Rae had become an excellent musket hunter, rock climber and hiker, enjoying hobbies like fishing and boating.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McGoogan |first1=Ken |title=Fatal Passage - The untold story of Scotsman John Rae, the Arctic adventurer who discovered the fate of Franklin |date=2002 |publisher=Bantam Book |isbn=978-0-553-81493-4}}</ref>

After studying medicine in [[Edinburgh]], he graduated with a degree from the [[University of Edinburgh]] and was licensed by the [[Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh]] at age 19 in 1833. Two months after graduating he accepted a post for a season as the ship's surgeon aboard the [[Prince of Wales (1793 ship)|Prince of Wales]], a supply ship for the Hudson Bay fur trading settlements. During his first voyage the ship was kept from its return home to Great Britain by an early winter 1833 and pack ice closing the route. The ship's crew had to spend the winter on the deserted [[Charlton Island]]. Rae's skills as a hunter and doctor, as well as his knowledge about fauna and its pharmaceutical merits managed to keep most men alive throughout the winter and heavy cases of scurvy, that took two lives among the crew.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McGoogan |first1=Ken |title=Fatal Passage - The untold story of Scotsman John Rae, the Arctic adventurer who discovered the fate of Franklin |date=2002 |publisher=Bantam Book |isbn=978-0-553-81493-4}}</ref>

He went to work for the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] as a surgeon, accepting a post at [[Moose Factory]], [[Ontario]], where he remained for ten years. While working for the company, treating both European and [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|indigenous]] employees, Rae became known for his prodigious stamina and skilled use of [[snowshoe]]s. He learned to live off the land like a native and, working with the local craftsmen, designed his own snowshoes. This knowledge allowed him to travel great distances with little equipment and few followers, unlike many other explorers of the [[Victorian era]].