Wilson, British National Antarctic Expedition

Scope and Content

  • MS 232/1-3;BJ Journals (3), 1900-1904 [volume I July 1900 to 7 July 1902, volume II 8 July 1902 to 13 September 1903, volume III 13 September 1903 to 8 September 1904] 3 volumes, holograph
  • MS 715/1/1-2;BJ Journals (2)(copy) 1900-1904 [For original journals see MS 232/1-3;BJ, these copies are not identical, in places material taken from Wilson's letters has been inserted or substituted] 2 volumes, typescript
  • MS 715/3;BJ Journal (copy) 1901-1904 [This manuscript copy of the journals is presumed to be the original of the typed copy, MS 715/1;BJ] 1 volume
  • MS 989;BJ Journal, 15 August to 6 September 1901 [Copy in ink not in Wilson's hand, includes extract from a letter by Scott to Oriana Wilson] 28 leaves
  • MS 361;MSM Track chart, undated [Outward voyage of Discovery from England to pack ice off Cape Adare]
  • MS 233/1-5;BJ Field note books (5) of biological data, 1901-1904 [volume I 'Notes on vertebrate animals, other than birds', volume II 'Record of ornithological observations' 6 August to 1 December 1901, volume III 'Record of ornithological observations', 18 November 1901 to 23 November 1903, volume IV 'Annotated index of the notes on birds seen by members of the expedition', volume V 'Register of bird skins collected'] 5 volumes
  • MS 366/12;ER Pencil sketches and sketch map, 19 to 22 February 1902 [Drawn on sledge party to the south. In Paper of the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904, volume 2 items 5-7]
  • MS 963/1/1-4;BJ Diaries (4), (copies) 1903-1904 [Possibly made by Wilson's father of his diaries, volume I 20 December 1903 to 24 February 1904, volume II 3 to 13 May 1904, volume III 14 May to 24 July 1904, volume IV 25 July to 6 September 1904] 4 volumes, incomplete
  • MS 428;MSM 'Cape Crozier and its neighbourhood, our probable winter quarters, drawn from memory' undated [Pencil sketch map drawn after the expedition] 1 sheet, pencil

Administrative / Biographical History

The British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904 (leader Robert Falcon Scott) undertook the first extensive exploration on land in Antarctica. Funding came from the Government, the Royal Society, the Royal Geographical Society and private donations. The expedition set up base at McMurdo Sound from where sledging parties carried out recognisance and scientific programmes. Scott made the fist balloon ascent on the continent in 1902. A three-man sledge party consisting of Scott, Ernest Henry Shackleton and Edward Adrian Wilson achieved a furthest south of 82.28° on 30 December 1902. The expedition ship, Discovery, commissioned and built especially for the expedition was beset in McMurdo Sound from 1902-1904.

Arrangement

Chronological.

Related Material

See SPRI collection GB 015 British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-9104 for a fuller list of archival collections held by the Institute containing material relating to this expedition.

Geographical Names