January 15, 2024
Fawckner: a sketch of a naval officer
William Henry Fawckner (1829-1914) was aboard Breadalbane, transport ship for the Arctic expedition under Inglefield in 1853.
Click below to read more.
…
November 30, 2023
HARBORD—A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF A NIMROD OFFICER
Here’s something I put together about Arthur Edward Harbor. He was auxiliary second officer, then second officer and finally chief officer of Shackleton’s Nimrod.
December 30, 2020
POLAR TEAM’S FARTHEST SOUTH
1902: POLAR TEAM’S FARTHEST SOUTH
After a day of very limited visibility, R. F. Scott and Edward Wilson skied through fog to explore an inlet on 30 December, 1902. Although this was in the final stages of the outward part
December 6, 2020
Q&A with author Willie Mitchell
Willie Mitchell and I have been in touch for a little while now, since before the publication of his Antarctica-inspired novel. His enthusiasm for his subject matter is evident in his writing and in the manner in which…
July 15, 2020
15 JULY, 1911, WINTER PARTY REACHED CAPE CROZIER
I’m happy to share a new guest post by Ana Carolina Maciel Soukef Mendes Moretto. Ana has written about the ‘winter journey’ of Edward Adrien Wilson, Henry Robertson Bowers and Apsley Cherry-Garrard
… July 7, 2020
ON THIS DATE IN 1964: DEATH OF JAMES
Professor Reginald William James, FRS, physicist, university man and polar explorer, died in Cape Town on 7 July, 1964. James was physicist of Shackleton’s Endurance as part of the Imperial Transcontinental Antarctic…
July 1, 2020
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MACKINTOSH!
ON THIS DATE IN 1879: BIRTH OF MACKINTOSH
Aeneas Lionel Acton Mackintosh, British Merchant Navy officer and Antarctic explorer, was born 1 July, 1879 in Tirhoot, India, son of Alexander and Annie Mackintosh. Though…
June 22, 2020
New guest post by Ana Carolina Maciel Soukef Mendes Moretto!
A RAINBOW IN THE DARK
Celebrations all over the world regarding Midwinter’s Day are pretty common and that is no different in polar explorations. In the Southern Hemisphere, in Antarctica especially, the winter solstice…
June 15, 2020
ON THIS DATE IN 1942: DEATH OF HUDSON
Captain (Commodore 2nd Class) Huberht Taylor Hudson, navigator of Endurance, died when the vessel on which he was serving, Pelavo, was torpedoed and then sank on 15 June, 1942.
Huberht Taylor Hudson was born in Holloway,
May 15, 2020
JOHANSEN WITH NANSEN
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHANSEN!
Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen, Norwegian polar explorer, was born in Skien, southern Norway, on 15 May, 1867. Huntford wrote that Johansen was of ‘medium height, well built, quiet and modest,…
April 30, 2020
ON THIS DATE IN 1962: DEATH OF ADAMS
Captain Sir Jameson Boyd Adams, KCVO, CBE, DSO, RD, died on 30 April, 1962.
Jameson Boyd Adams—Bill Adams or ‘The Mate’—was born on 6 March 1880, in Rippingale, Lincolnshire. Adams joined the Merchant Navy in 1893 and…
March 9, 2020
DEATH OF SPENCER-SMITH
Rev. Arnold Spencer-Smith, clergyman, photographer and Antarctic explorer, died on the Antarctic continent on 9 March, 1916, during the second sledging session of the Ross Sea party of Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-continental…
March 2, 2020
2 March, 1913: Shackleton left Antarctica aboard ‘Morning’
ON THIS DATE IN 1903: DEPARTURE OF MORNING FROM ANTARCTICA
SY Morning under Captain William Colbeck, a relief vessel of R. F. Scott’s British National Antarctic Expedition, left McMurdo Sound at about 2pm on 2 March,…
February 29, 2020
Japanese expedition sources
As I’ve recently added more information and dates concerning the Japanese Antarctic expedition (1910-1912) aboard ‘Kainan Maru’ to my list of posts, I thought it would also be handy to have my sources…
February 21, 2020
ON THIS DATE IN 1958: DEATH OF ARCTOWSKI
Henryk Arctowski (born Henryk Artzt), Polish scientist and explorer, died 21 February, 1958, in Bethesda, northwest of Washington, D.C. Arctowski conducted much scientific work and observation as part of the Belgian…
February 8, 2020
Discovering Alexander von Humboldt: Guest post by Katy Cox, February, 2020
One of the many great things about the Shackleton Exhibition FB page is the range of interests and specialities of its followers and readers. Just in case you are in any doubt about this, here is a guest post from Katy Cox,…
February 7, 2020
SCOTT’S ONLY PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT ON EXPEDITION
Henry R. Brett was the second of three cooks aboard Robert F. Scott’s Discovery Antarctic expedition. The other expedition members didn’t like him, his cooking was unimaginative and he was dirty (not a good look for …
January 30, 2020
DEATH OF GOOCH
Sir Daniel Fulthorpe Gooch 3rd Baronet Gooch, of Clewer Park, died on 22 December, 1926. Gooch was an expert breeder of greyhounds and was, for a short period, the dog handler of Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-continental…
January 23, 2020
1895 LANDING ON THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENT!
ON THIS DATE IN 1895: FIRST UNDISPUTED LANDING ON THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENT
A party of six men from the ship Antarctic set foot on the Antarctic continent on 24 January, 1895, in the vicinity of Cape Adare. The party included…
December 16, 2019
MacLeod Updated
Thomas Frank MacLeod was born on 3 April, 1873, in Glasgow and grew up in Stornoway, on the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. By the age of fourteen McLeod was a man of the sea. He fought in the Boer War where …
November 26, 2019
Bakewell’s birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BAKEWELL!
William Lincoln Bakewell, sailor and explorer, was born in Joliet, Illinois, USA, on 26 November, 1888. Bakewell was signed on to Shackleton’s ‘Endurance’ at Buenos Aires as Able Seaman.…
October 28, 2019
ON THIS DATE IN 1908: DEPARTURE OF THE ‘NIMROD’ POLAR TEAM
The southern march of Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909 (Nimrod expedition) to reach the South Pole began on 29 October, 1908.
Shackleton led the polar team which comprised Jameson Adams, Eric …
September 29, 2019
Armytage’s birthday
Bertram Armytage, carer for the ponies of Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition, was born 29 September, 1869, in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Armytage attended Geelong Grammar School as well as Melbourne Grammar School…
September 23, 2019
Links for McNish
Henry ‘Chippy’ McNish died in Wellington, New Zealand, on 24 September, 1930.
To mark the anniversary of his death, I have put together a list of pages, articles and papers related to McNish. Though Shackleton denied…
September 2, 2019
Macklin’s birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MACKLIN!
Colonel Alexander Hepburne Macklin, OBE, MC, TD, Scottish physician and RAMC officer, was born 1 September, 1889, in India. Macklin was surgeon on Shackleton’s Imperial Transcontinental…
August 28, 2019
Robert Forde (revised)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FORDE!
On 29 August, 1875, Robert Forde, naval officer and Antarctic explorer, was born in Moviddy, near Bandon, Co. Cork. Forde was part of Captain Robert F. Scott’s Terra Nova expedition.
Robert was…
August 18, 2019
The Sound of Silence: Hurley in Antarctica
Stephen Martin, historian and explorer of Antarctica, has written:
‘The silences are a leitmotif, a characteristic of the environment that is a reminder of people’s unease and unfamiliarity in Antarctica. Sometimes…
August 5, 2019
Vitus Jonassen Bering
ON THIS DATE IN 1681: BAPTISM OF BERING
Vitus Jonassen Bering, Danish cartographer, naval officer with the Russian Imperial Navy, and explorer, was baptised 5 August, 1681, having been born in Horsens, Denmark. The
June 10, 2019
THE ‘INSTITUTIO DE PESCA NO. 1’ RESUCE ATTEMPT
JUNE, 1916: THE UNCERTAIN BEGINNING OF THE INSTITUTIO DE PESCA NO. 1 RESUCE ATTEMPT
Following the failure of Southern Sky to reach Elephant Island, Shackleton turned to the governments of South America for assistance…
June 3, 2019
Shackleton in Port Stanley
Place: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, early-June, 1916
Following the unsuccessful attempt to return to Elephant Island aboard Southern Sky, Shackleton arrived at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, on 31 May, 1916.…
April 16, 2019
Death of Rickinson, 1945
ON THIS DATE IN 1945: DEATH OF RICKINSON
Lewis Raphael Rickinson died in a Naval Nursing Home, 16 April, 1945, following lung cancer illness.
Born in Lewisham, south-east London, Lewis was born into a family with strong…
January 1, 2019
New Year’s Day on Polar Expeditions
1900: BORCHGREVINK & CO. AT CAPE ADARE
1902: WITH ‘DISCOVERY’ NEARING THE ANTARCTIC CIRCLE
1903: WITH SCOTT ON THE POLAR TREK
1908: ‘NIMROD’ LEFT LYTTELTON, NZ
1909: IN THE ICE WITH THE ‘POURQUI PAS’
1909: ‘NIMROD’…
December 21, 2018
21 December, 1901: DISCOVERY LEFT LYTTELTON, NEW ZEALAND
Below you will find a link to my written piece concerning the departure of Captain Scott’s ship, Discovery, from the harbour at Lyttelton, Nez Zealand in December, 1901. Just click the title below to be taken …
November 4, 2018
Shackleton & the Girls’ Training Hostel, Christchurch, NZ
Following Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition of 1907-1909, the Nimrod arrived at Lyttelton, New Zealand, on 25 March, 1909, having left that port on 1 January, 1908. On 7 April, 1909, Shackleton gave…
July 5, 2018
Did you ever think to link James Joyce to Sir Ernest Shackleton?
I was in and about the city of Dublin on Saturday, 16 June. It was upon that date in 1904 that James Joyce set his novel, Ulysses. For many years, that date has been celebrated as Bloomsday, named after Mr Leopold Bloom, a …
June 25, 2018
Nimrod preparations, June, 1907
June, 1907, was a busy month for Ernest Shackleton. He was effectively trying to pull together funding, resources, supplies, equipment and a ship for an expedition to the Antarctic. Many factors were working against…
June 15, 2018
ON THIS DATE IN 1916: BLACKBOROW’S TOES WERE CUT OFF
By early June 1916, six weeks after the Caird’s departure, Perce’s right foot was healing well but his left foot was gangrenous—a condition where the death of body tissue is caused by reduced, or lack of, blood supply …
April 24, 2018
ON THIS DATE IN 1942: DEATH OF BERNACCHI
Louis Bernacchi, scientist and explorer, died 24 April, 1942.
Born 1876 in Belgium, Bernacchi arrived in Tasmania with his parents in 1884 and they settled on Maria Island off the east coast. He received education and…
February 17, 2018
Shackleton Mountain Challenge
The Shackleton Mountain Challenge: Guest writer Maksymilian Rębisz
This post will tell the story of Maksymilian’s expedition, the Shackleton Mountain Challenge. A young man living in Poland, he is deeply interested…
February 7, 2018
SCOTT & SHACKLETON ASCEND THE SKIES OF ANTARCTICA IN A BALLOON
‘The inflation of, and ascent in a captive balloon is such an unusual circumstance in Polar regions, that perhaps our experience in that respect may be worth recording.’ (‘Hydrogen’, ‘Ballooning…
November 15, 2017
Henry Hudson & Sir Ernest Shackleton
Henry Hudson’s voyages to the ice were to the north, and three hundred years before Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expeditions to Antarctica. However, they share some similarities.
Hudson sailed under the …
August 31, 2017
Shackleton, Pardo & the ‘Yelcho’
In August, 1916, at Punta Arenas, Shackleton, in his own words, ‘begged the Chilian Government to let me have the Yelcho for a last attempt to reach the island [Elephant Island].’ The government allowed…
February 1, 2017
On This Date in 1943: Worsley
On 1 February, 1943. Frank Arthur Worsley died in Claygate, Surrey in England. There is great material available to read and view about Worsley. Below are some suggestion to get started and to start a possible obsession…
January 30, 2017
ON THIS DATE IN 1916: Markham
ON THIS DATE IN 1916
On 30 January, 1916, Sir Clements Robert Markham died in London.
Born at Stillingfleet on 20 July, 1830, Markham joined the Royal Navy in 1844 and spent the next six years serving on various vessels …
January 10, 2017
100 YEARS AGO TODAY: The Relief of the Ross Sea Party
Too weak for hunting, physicist Richard Walters Richards became the lookout of the stranded party from the Ross Sea end of Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-continental Antarctic Expedition. On 10 January, 1917, through…
January 5, 2017
Shackleton’s Death, 5 January, 1922
The death of Sir Ernest H. Shackleton
On 4 January, 1922, the ‘Quest’ reached South Georgia and cast anchor off the Grytviken whaling station. Sir Ernest Shackleton visited old friends at the whaling station and organised…
December 16, 2016
ON THIS DATE IN 1960: THOMAS MCLEOD
Thomas Frank McLeod was born on 3 April, 1873, in Glasgow and grew up in Stornoway, on the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. By the age of fourteen McLeod was a man of the sea. He fought in the Boer War where he…
December 14, 2016
Sir Ernest in Dublin 1909
Sir Ernest in Dublin: Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Dublin Nimrod lecture
in aid of Lady Dudley’s district nurses, 14 December, 1909.
Almost immediately after the British Antarctic Expedition (the Nimrod expedition),…
November 22, 2016
Shackleton Endurance Exhibition at Detroit Zoo
With many thanks to Brittney Diesbourg at Detroit Zoo, we now present photographs of the Shackleton exhibition as it is at the zoo. The building that it occupies is wonderful and suits the display of Frank Hurley’s…
November 22, 2016
ON THIS DATE IN 1940: GEORGE MARSTON
On 20 November, 1940, George Marston died. He was official artist on Shackleton’s expeditions aboard the Nimrod and the Endurance.
Marston was born on 19 March, 1882 in Southsea, Portsmouth, England. Having left home…
October 18, 2016
ON THIS DATE ON 1854 Andrée
On 18 October, 1884, Salomon August Andrée was born in Gränna, Sweden.
The incredible story of S. A. Andrée is one that I have only recently come across. I won’t say much about it here. I will simply leave you, our readers, …
October 15, 2016
On This Date in 1885 Hurley
On 15 October, 1885, Frank Hurley was born in Sydney. His photographs of Shackleton’s Endurance expedition have shaped how we visually think of the men, the landscape and the hardships, as well as the amusements,…
October 10, 2016
On This Day in 1861 Nansen
On 10 October, 1861, Fridtjof Nansen—zoologist, oceanographer, athlete, scholar, academic, Arctic explorer, writer, diplomat, humanitarian—was born at Store Frøen, near Oslo, Norway. A leader in many fields …
September 26, 2016
On This Day in 1966: Andrew Keith Jack
On 26 September, 1966, Andrew Keith Jack, physicist of the Aurora, industrial chemist, died.
Andrew Keith Jack (known as Keith Jack) was born on 9 September, 1885, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Keith Jack was …
September 26, 2016
On This Day In 1974: Green
On 26 September, 1974, Charles Green, the cook aboard the Endurance, died in Hull, England. He was known as the ‘Antarctic Chef’.
Charles Green was born on 24 November, 1888, in Richmond, Surrey, the eldest of four children…
September 24, 2016
On This Day in 1870: H. Hanssen
On 24 September, 1870, Helmer Julius Hanssen, Norwegian polar explorer, was born in Bjørnskinn, on the island of Andøya in northern Norway. He grew up farming and fishing with his father. Hanssen was an experienced …
September 20, 2016
On This Day in 1924: Holness
On 20 September, 1924, Albert Ernest Holness died when he was washed overboard and lost at sea whilst serving on the trawler Lord Lonsdale off the Faroe Islands, Scotland.
Born in Hull on 7 December, 1892, Ernie Holness…
September 16, 2016
On This Day in 1936: Charcot
Jean-Baptiste Charcot was a French polar explorer and expedition leader. His two expeditions in the first decade of the twentieth century explored, charted and mapped areas of Antarctica such as the Antarctic …
September 12, 2016
On This Day in 1941: Joseph Stenhouse
Joseph Russell Stenhouse was born on 15 November, 1887, in Dumbarton, Scotland. He was educated at Barrow Higher Grade school but left at age fourteen. He was employed at the Barrow offices of Lloyds Register of Shipping…
September 11, 2016
On This Day in 1882: Clark’s Birthday
On 11 September, 1882, Robert Selbie Clark, biologist aboard the Endurance, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. Clark attended Aberdeen Grammar School and later attained two degrees—M.A. & B.Sc.—from Aberdeen …
September 11, 2016
On This Day in 1874: McNish’s Birthday
On 11 September, 1874, Henry ‘Chippy’ McNish was born at 8 Lyons Lane, Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, Scotland. He was the third eldest of eleven children of John McNish and Mary Jane McNish (née Wade). It seems little is known…
August 31, 2016
The unveiling of Shackleton statue at Athy, Co. Kildare
Tuesday, 30 August, 2016: The unveiling of a statue of Sir Ernest Shackleton at Athy Heritage Centre-Museum, Emily Square, Athy, Co. Kildare, Republic of Ireland.
Yesterday afternoon, on the centenary anniversary…
August 30, 2016
100 Years Ago Today: The Rescue
At daybreak of 30 August, 1916, the weather was still foggy. Sir Ernest Shackleton and Frank Worsley stayed up all night, at the bridge of the Yelcho hoping for the fog to ease. They feared that they would run into pack ice,…
August 29, 2016
THIS DAY IN 1875
On 29 August, 1875, Robert Forde, Antarctic expedition veteran, was born in Moviddy, near Bandon, Co. Cork. Forde was part of Robert F. Scott’s Terra Nova expedition.
Robert was the youngest child of George Forde and…
August 25, 2016
100 Years Ago: The Launch of the ‘Yelcho’
On 25 August, 1916, Sir Ernest Shackleton left Punta Arenas aboard the Yelcho for the fourth attempt to rescue the twenty-two men stranded on Elephant Island.
Following the failure of the attempt to reach Elephant Island…
August 24, 2016
On this day in 1870
On 24 August, 1870, Nicolai Hanson, zoologist and Antarctic explorer, was born at Kristiansund, Norway. He studied zoology at the University of Kristiania and, in the late 1890s, undertook field work for the British…
August 23, 2016
On This Day in 1898
On 23 August, 1898, the Southern Cross left London at the beginning of the British Antarctic Expedition 1898–1900. The exhibition was the project of the half-British, half-Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink and was …
August 22, 2016
On this day in 1918
On 22 August, 1918, Alf Cheetham, veteran of Scott and Shackleton Antarctic expeditions, died aboard S.S. Prunelle when the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Blyth in the North Sea.
Alf Cheetham was born 6 May,…
August 19, 2016
On this day in 1939
On 19 August, 1939, Frank Wild, veteran of five Antarctic expeditions of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, died in South Africa.
Frank Wild was born in Skelton-in-Cleveland in north Yorkshire, England, 10 April,…
August 18, 2016
On this day in 1909
On 18 August, 1909, Shackleton wrote a letter to Emily, his wife, informing her that the Prime Minister, Herbert H. Asquith, had confirmed a parliamentary grant of £20,000 towards his debts and the cost of the Nimrod …
August 16, 2016
On This Day in 1796
ON THIS DAY IN 1796
On 16 August, 1796, Francis Crozier was born in Banbridge, Co. Down. He was a veteran polar scientist and explorer, being on five expeditions to the polar regions—north and south. He assumed command…