Ernest Shackleton

Ernest Shackleton was born on the 15th of February 1874 in Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland. His father Henry Shackleton had tried to join the British Army but poor health forced him into farming instead. The family moved to Sydenham in suburban south London when Ernest was ten years old. He attended Fir Lodge Preparatory School and later Dulwich College where he found schoolwork boring. A teacher once noted that literature classes involved dissecting passages from great poets rather than enjoying them. Despite his lack of academic distinction, he finished fifth in a class of thirty-one students. At age sixteen he left school to enter the Merchant Navy because the Royal Navy cadetship cost too much money. He sailed aboard the square-rigged sailing ship Hoghton Tower for four years learning his trade at sea.

Discovery Expedition Service

Shackleton joined Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Expedition as third officer on the 17th of February 1901. The expedition departed from London's East India Docks on the 31st of July 1901 arriving at the Antarctic coast months later. During the southern journey starting on the 2nd of November 1902 the party reached latitude 82°17′ S setting a new record. All twenty-two dogs died during the march after their food became tainted. Shackleton himself suffered from snow blindness frostbite and scurvy before breaking down completely. His companion Edward Adrian Wilson wrote in a diary entry dated the 14th of January 1903 that Shackleton was decidedly worse with serious symptoms requiring no detail. Scott decided to send him home early on health grounds though some historians suspect personal rivalry played a role. The party arrived back at the ship on the 3rd of February 1903 ending this first major polar experience.

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Common questions

When was Ernest Shackleton born and where did he grow up?

Ernest Shackleton was born on the 15th of February 1874 in Kilkea County Kildare Ireland. The family moved to Sydenham in suburban south London when he was ten years old.

What happened during Ernest Shackleton's first Antarctic expedition with Robert Falcon Scott?

The party reached latitude 82°17′ S setting a new record before all twenty-two dogs died from tainted food. Shackleton suffered from snow blindness frostbite and scurvy requiring him to return home early on health grounds.

How close did Ernest Shackleton get to the South Pole during the Nimrod Expedition?

Shackleton and his team reached latitude 88°23′ S on the 9th of January 1909 which lay only ninety-seven geographical miles from the South Pole. This marked the largest advance ever made toward the pole at that time.

Why is the Endurance expedition considered one of the greatest survival stories in history?

The ship Endurance became frozen fast in an ice floe on the 19th of January 1915 and eventually sank beneath the surface on the 21st of November 1915. All twenty-two men were rescued from Elephant Island by the Chilean tug Yelcho on the 30th of August 1916 after a perilous journey involving lifeboats and a land crossing.

When and how did Ernest Shackleton die during his final Quest expedition?

Ernest Shackleton suffered a fatal heart attack at 2:50 a.m. on the 5th of January 1922 while complaining of back pains to physician Alexander Macklin. His body was buried in Grytviken cemetery on the 5th of March 1922 after his wife Emily requested it remain on the island.

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Nimrod Expedition Success

The Nimrod set sail from England on the 7th of August 1907 for the British Antarctic Expedition. After establishing base at Cape Royds the team launched the Great Southern Journey on the 29th of October 1908. Frank Wild Eric Marshall Jameson Adams and Shackleton themselves marched toward the pole reaching latitude 88°23′ S on the 9th of January 1909. This point lay only ninety-seven geographical miles from the South Pole marking the largest advance ever made. They discovered the Beardmore Glacier named after Shackleton's patron William Beardmore. On the return journey they faced starvation and restricted rations for much of the duration. At one critical moment Shackleton gave his single daily biscuit to the ailing Frank Wild who later wrote that nothing could buy that sacrifice. The party also climbed Mount Erebus becoming the first people to ascend the most active volcano in Antarctica. Shackleton returned to Britain as a hero knighted by King Edward VII on the 10th of July 1909.

Endurance Disaster Survival

The ship Endurance departed from South Georgia on the 5th of December 1914 heading for Vahsel Bay. It became frozen fast in an ice floe on the 19th of January 1915 drifting northward through the following months. Water began pouring into the hull on the 24th of October when the position was at 69°5′ S 51°30′ W. Shackleton ordered abandonment saying She is going down before the wreck finally slipped beneath the surface on the 21st of November 1915. After two months camping on the ice the crew launched three lifeboats reaching Elephant Island five days later. This marked their first solid ground in four hundred ninety-seven days. Shackleton chose five companions including Tom Crean and Captain Frank Worsley for an open-boat journey to South Georgia. They launched the James Caird lifeboat on the 24th of April 1916 sailing through stormy southern ocean waters for fifteen days. The party landed on unoccupied southern shore on the 8th of May but hurricane-force winds prevented immediate access. Shackleton then led a land crossing over thirty-six hours covering dangerous mountainous terrain to reach Stromness whaling station on the 20th of May 1916. All twenty-two men were rescued from Elephant Island by the Chilean tug Yelcho on the 30th of August 1916.

War Efforts And Final Voyage

Shackleton volunteered for the British Army despite suffering from heart conditions made worse by his arduous journeys. He served with the North Russia Expeditionary Force under Major-General Edmund Ironside during the Russian Civil War starting in October 1918. His plans for economic development of Northern Russia foundered when Bolshevik control took hold. In December 1919 he published his account titled South before considering a final expedition. With funds supplied by John Quiller Rowett he acquired a Norwegian sealer renamed Quest. The expedition left England on the 24th of September 1921 arriving at Rio de Janeiro where Shackleton suffered a suspected heart attack. He refused proper medical examination and continued south reaching South Georgia on the 4th of January 1922. At 2:50 a.m. on the 5th of January 1922 Shackleton suffered a fatal heart attack while complaining of back pains to physician Alexander Macklin. His body was buried in Grytviken cemetery on the 5th of March 1922 after his wife Emily requested it remain on the island. He died heavily in debt leaving an estate worth only £556.

Posthumous Reputation Shift

Before returning his body to South Georgia a memorial service took place at Holy Trinity Church Montevideo followed by one at St Paul's Cathedral London on the 2nd of March 1922. Within a year Hugh Robert Mill published the first biography The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton to assist his family who faced debts around £40,000. For decades Scott overshadowed Shackleton with over thirty monuments erected in Britain alone including stained glass windows and statues. A forty-page booklet titled Shackleton in the Antarctic published in 1943 stood as a lone example of popular literary treatment compared to Scott's many tributes. This disparity persisted into the 1950s until Alfred Lansing published Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage in April 1959 showing him in highly positive light. Roland Huntford's 1979 dual biography Scott and Amundsen delivered what cultural historian Stephanie Barczewski called a devastating attack on Scott's reputation. By 2002 Shackleton ranked eleventh in a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons while Scott fell to fifty-fourth place. Sir Raymond Priestley had earlier paraphrased Apsley Cherry-Garrard writing that when disaster strikes and all hope is gone people should pray for Shackleton.

Modern Legacy And Commemoration

Trevor Potts re-enacted the boat journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia in 1993 using a replica James Caird totally unsupported. An asteroid discovered by Swiss astronomer Michel Ory in March 2005 was named 289586 Shackleton in his memory. At a Christie's auction in London in 2011 a biscuit Shackleton gave to a starving fellow traveler sold for £1,250. Google honored him with a Doodle on the date that would have been his 137th birthday. In January 2013 Tim Jarvis led a joint British-Australian team duplicating the 1916 trip across the Southern Ocean using period clothing and replica rations. The expedition became a documentary film screening as Chasing Shackleton on PBS. A genus of lichen-forming fungi published in 2013 was named Shackletonia by botanists Søchting Frödén and Arup. Shackleton's decorations and medals were auctioned at Christie's in October 2015 raising £585,000. He featured on UK postage stamps issued by Royal Mail in January 2016 marking the centenary of the Endurance expedition. A statue by Mark Richards was erected in Athy County Kildare in August 2016 sponsored by Kildare County Council. A memorial plaque sculpted by Will Davies was unveiled in Westminster Abbey south cloister in February 2024 by Anne Princess Royal.

Knights Bachelor

Liberal Unionist Party parliamentary candidates

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Military personnel from County Kildare

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People from County Kildare

Personnel of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

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South Pole