Voting for the Hall of Clestrain to win the Restoration television series would be a vote for justice, Cameron Stout told project supporters on Tuesday night.

“You won’t just be voting for the Hall of Clestrain,” the patron of Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum said. “You’ll be voting for fairness, because John Rae did far more work than he is credited with.

“He discovered the Northwest Passage, but that is credited to someone else.”

Cameron said the explorer of the Canadian Arctic had been portrayed in an inaccurate and unfair way and that had to be put right.

Displays marking Dr Rae’s achievements are planned to be part of the restored hall, his birthplace.

The project to restore the house and other buildings on the Orphir site and establish a boat museum is one of those contending for the money raised by public votes when the BBC television series Restoration returns this summer.

Hugh Halcro-Johnston, who chairs the board of the boat museum company, said the explorer John Franklin, who got the credit for the discovery, had been knighted posthumously, so perhaps the supporters should push for Dr Rae to be honoured.

“Rae is the only arctic explorer who wasn’t knighted,” he said.

He said John Rae explored a greater length of coastline than almost any other explorer.

Cameron Stout (top of house) leads a cheer for the Hall of Clestrain during filming for the television series Restoration, on Tuesday night. (Pictures: Kenny Pirie)

Former OIC museums officer Bryce Wilson, who is a director of the boat museum company, agreed Dr Rae got a very poor deal.

“We can thank Lady Franklin for that,” he said. “She was a Victorian spin doctor who decided her husband should get the credit for discovering the Northwest Passage.

“But John Rae discovered the last bit of it, and it’s called Rae Strait to prove it.

“He was the first explorer to winter his men in the Arctic without loss of life.”

Despite rain and fog in Kirkwall, it was dry and clear enough at the Hall of Clestrain for about 400 people to show their support for the restoration of the Hall and the building of the boat museum.

Endemol, the TV production company making the Restoration series, was there to film a question-and-answer session, a mass cheer for Clestrain and the entertainment and socialising at the event. This included food stalls, raffles and music from Hadhirgaan and the Stromness Royal British Legion Pipe Band.

The evening began with the pipe band marching up the track to the house.

The question-and-answer session which followed included Cameron, Mr Halcro-Johnston, OIC heritage officer Steve Callaghan, Mr Wilson and architect Leslie Burgher.

Other activities included raffles and fundraising projects such as people buying pottery fingerprints – paying £2.50 to put their fingerprint into clay with an impression of the project logo on the other side.

Mick Bain (left) and Cameron Stout make their marks for the Hall of Clestrain. The clay will be fired with supportersÕ fingerprints on one side and the Hall of Clestrain logo on the other.

These will be fired by potter Andrew Appleby and sent to the owners of the fingerprints.

Mick Bain, chairman of the Friends, said membership of the organisation reached 200 on Tuesday night.

“Our target was 100 by June 1, so we’re very pleased with that, he said.

He said the turnout was very good considering the weather in Kirkwall.