Polar Gallery

Captain Francis Crozier of HMS Terror, 1845

Engraving of Captain Francis Crozier (1796-1848) of HMS Terror, pictured shortly before departing on the ill-fated Franklin Arctic expedition of 1845. In 1845 the British Admiralty sent two polar exploration ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, to look for the Northwest passage round the northern coast of Canada. The expedition, commanded by Sir John Franklin, disappeared from view late in 1845 and none of the men were ever seen again. In fact the ships made it to the King William Island region, then got stuck in the ice. With supplies running out the surviving crew abandoned ship and headed south. However, none made it to safety and it is assumed all died from disease, exposure or starvation. From 1848 onwards a number of relief expeditions were sent to find Franklin, but it was only in 1859 that Francis Leopold McClintock was able to confirm Franklin's fate

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10217699

Scott of the Antarctic - page from The Sphere

Page from the special Scott of the Antarctic memorial number featuring a photograph of the Scott Antarctic medal, presented to the team after returning from their first successful expedition in 1904, a photograph of Scott himself surveying ice through a telescope and the expedition's photographer Herbert Ponting. The bottom half of the page is decorated with a beautifully drawn polar themed border featuring skis, huskies, supplies and equipment

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10419370

The Terra Nova of Scotts Antarctic Expedition

The ship Terra Nova - the vessel used by Robert Falcon Scott (1868 -1912) for his South Polar Expedition in 1911-12. Built originally for the Dundee whaling and sealing fleet (launched 1884), the Terra Nova was purchased from Bowring Brothers Limited for the British Antarctic Expedition, known also as the Terra Nova Expedition, for the sum of 12, 500. Reinforced from bow to stern with seven feet of oak to protect against the Antarctic ice pack, she sailed from Cardiff on 15 June 1910 under overall command of now Captain Scott, who described her as "a wonderfully fine ice ship.... As she bumped the floes with mighty shocks, crushing and grinding a way through some, twisting and turning to avoid others, she seemed like a living thing fighting a great fight."

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10282554