The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies
On 2 April 1923, Easter Monday, the ashes of the Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce were scattered in the South Atlantic Ocean off South Georgia, at latitude 54° South, longitude 36° West. Bruce is best known for his leadership of the 1902-1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (Fig....
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:535857 2023-12-03T10:13:26+01:00 The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies Stone, Phil 2023-02 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535857/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535857/1/WSB%20and%20the%20FIDs%20FIJ%20for%20NORA.pdf en eng https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535857/1/WSB%20and%20the%20FIDs%20FIJ%20for%20NORA.pdf Stone, Phil. 2023 The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies. Falkland Islands Journal, 12 (2). 35-50. Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2023 ftnerc 2023-11-03T00:03:09Z On 2 April 1923, Easter Monday, the ashes of the Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce were scattered in the South Atlantic Ocean off South Georgia, at latitude 54° South, longitude 36° West. Bruce is best known for his leadership of the 1902-1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (Fig. 1). He had died in Edinburgh on 28 October 1921, and in his will, he had requested that his ashes be scattered at sea in a high southern latitude between 10° and 15° East. His first biographer, Robert Rudmose Brown, a member of the Scottish expedition (Fig. 1), wrote that in stipulating the eastern longitude Bruce hoped to draw attention to a little-known section of the Antarctic coastline (Brown 1923); in the event, the spirit of his wishes was satisfied even if the geography could not be realised. Nevertheless, given Bruce’s involvement in exploration of the Scotia and Weddell seas and the South Orkney Islands, the location was highly appropriate. His ashes were conveyed to South Georgia on the Salvesen Company’s supply ship Coronda and scattered from the whale-catcher Symra by Edward Binnie, the resident South Georgia magistrate, in company with the managers of some of the islands’ whaling stations.1 According to Brown (1923, p. 294), “[t]hey had no sooner got clear of the land than a strong wind set in from the north bringing with it a heavy sea; the deck of the whaler was more often under water than above it.” It was a poignant coincidence that a year previously, on 5 March 1922, Binnie had officiated at the funeral of Bruce’s Antarctic peer Sir Ernest Shackleton, buried in the Grytviken cemetery (Fig. 2). The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, covered in general terms in Bruce’s entry in The Dictionary of Falklands Biography (Wordie 2008), was his second visit to the Falkland Islands and foray into the Antarctic. The first expedition was a speculative whaling venture from Dundee. In 1892 Bruce had abandoned his final year medical studies at Edinburgh University to sign-on as surgeon on the Balaena, one of ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic South Atlantic Ocean South Orkney Islands Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic The Antarctic Shackleton Weddell South Orkney Islands ENVELOPE(-45.500,-45.500,-60.583,-60.583) Grytviken ENVELOPE(-36.509,-36.509,-54.281,-54.281) Dundee ENVELOPE(-55.966,-55.966,-63.483,-63.483) Wordie ENVELOPE(-67.500,-67.500,-69.167,-69.167) Salvesen ENVELOPE(-61.333,-61.333,-64.400,-64.400) Rudmose ENVELOPE(-44.566,-44.566,-60.683,-60.683) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
On 2 April 1923, Easter Monday, the ashes of the Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce were scattered in the South Atlantic Ocean off South Georgia, at latitude 54° South, longitude 36° West. Bruce is best known for his leadership of the 1902-1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (Fig. 1). He had died in Edinburgh on 28 October 1921, and in his will, he had requested that his ashes be scattered at sea in a high southern latitude between 10° and 15° East. His first biographer, Robert Rudmose Brown, a member of the Scottish expedition (Fig. 1), wrote that in stipulating the eastern longitude Bruce hoped to draw attention to a little-known section of the Antarctic coastline (Brown 1923); in the event, the spirit of his wishes was satisfied even if the geography could not be realised. Nevertheless, given Bruce’s involvement in exploration of the Scotia and Weddell seas and the South Orkney Islands, the location was highly appropriate. His ashes were conveyed to South Georgia on the Salvesen Company’s supply ship Coronda and scattered from the whale-catcher Symra by Edward Binnie, the resident South Georgia magistrate, in company with the managers of some of the islands’ whaling stations.1 According to Brown (1923, p. 294), “[t]hey had no sooner got clear of the land than a strong wind set in from the north bringing with it a heavy sea; the deck of the whaler was more often under water than above it.” It was a poignant coincidence that a year previously, on 5 March 1922, Binnie had officiated at the funeral of Bruce’s Antarctic peer Sir Ernest Shackleton, buried in the Grytviken cemetery (Fig. 2). The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, covered in general terms in Bruce’s entry in The Dictionary of Falklands Biography (Wordie 2008), was his second visit to the Falkland Islands and foray into the Antarctic. The first expedition was a speculative whaling venture from Dundee. In 1892 Bruce had abandoned his final year medical studies at Edinburgh University to sign-on as surgeon on the Balaena, one of ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stone, Phil |
spellingShingle |
Stone, Phil The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies |
author_facet |
Stone, Phil |
author_sort |
Stone, Phil |
title |
The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies |
title_short |
The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies |
title_full |
The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies |
title_fullStr |
The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies |
title_sort |
scottish polar explorer william speirs bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the falkland islands dependencies |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535857/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535857/1/WSB%20and%20the%20FIDs%20FIJ%20for%20NORA.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.500,-45.500,-60.583,-60.583) ENVELOPE(-36.509,-36.509,-54.281,-54.281) ENVELOPE(-55.966,-55.966,-63.483,-63.483) ENVELOPE(-67.500,-67.500,-69.167,-69.167) ENVELOPE(-61.333,-61.333,-64.400,-64.400) ENVELOPE(-44.566,-44.566,-60.683,-60.683) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Shackleton Weddell South Orkney Islands Grytviken Dundee Wordie Salvesen Rudmose |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Shackleton Weddell South Orkney Islands Grytviken Dundee Wordie Salvesen Rudmose |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic South Atlantic Ocean South Orkney Islands |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic South Atlantic Ocean South Orkney Islands |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535857/1/WSB%20and%20the%20FIDs%20FIJ%20for%20NORA.pdf Stone, Phil. 2023 The Scottish Polar explorer William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) and his thwarted ambitions in the Falkland Islands Dependencies. Falkland Islands Journal, 12 (2). 35-50. |
_version_ |
1784260195428335616 |