Statue on the Royal Geographical Society Building, Exhibition Road, London representing Ernest Shackleton d. 1922
Location
Royal Geographical Society Building, Exhibition Road, London, England
Details
Description: Shackleton shown full-length in polar clothing. Type: Statue Position: Niche on exterior Artists: C. S. Jagger
People
Shackleton, Ernest Henry Age: 47 Date of Death: 5/1/1922 Cause of Death: Unknown/None Rank / Occupation: Polar explorer Organisation:
Extra
Bibliography: Arthur Byron 'London Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture' (London, 1981) p. 192. Photographer: Royal Museums Greenwich
Memorial window in St Peter’s Church, Binton commemorating Captain Robert Falcon Scott RN d. 1912 and his companions
Location
St Peter's Church, Binton, Warwickshire, England
Transcript
'Here Captain Scott with his brave companions / full of zeal to plant the British flag at / the South Pole receive their last farewells / on their way south', 'Here the intrepid explorers coming upon / the flag of Amundsen learn with great / disappointment that the Norwegian expedition, had forestalled them', 'Here Captain Oates, that brave and gallant / gentleman - unwilling to be a burden to / his companions, leaves them and the shelter / of the tent to die', 'Here the search party erect a cairn to / mark the resting place of their gallant / countrymen, Capt. Scott, Dr Wilson, and Lt. Bowers' [top] 'Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends'
Details
Description: Window of four lights, the centre panels depict episodes from Scott's last expedition within gothic canopies. Below, small roundels depicting biblical scenes - Abraham and Isaac, Moses in the bullrushes, the boy Samuel, David and Golliath. Above - two small trefoil lights show the expedition vessel 'Terra Nova' and the cairn above the explorers' grave. The crucifixion is shown at the very top of the window with the inscription 'Greater Love hath no man'. Type: Window Position: West window Materials: Stained glass Date Erected: 25/9/1915 Artists: C. E. Kempe & Co., H.G. Ponting
People
Scott, Robert Falcon Age: 43 Date of Death: 3/1912 Cause of Death: Unknown/None Rank / Occupation: Captain RN Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Bibliography: David Saunders 'Maritime Memorials & Mementoes' (Yeovil, 1996) p. 21. Max Jones 'The Last Great Quest' p. 256. Recorder: B. Tomlinson Photographer: B. Tomlinson
Bust in Sebastopol, Russia depicting Rear Admiral Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev, Imperial Russian Navy d. 1851
Location
Sebastopol, Russia, Rest of the World
Details
Description: Bust. Type: Memorial Materials: Bronze Date Erected: 1993
People
Lazarev, Mikhail Petrovich Age: 62 Date of Death: 11/4/1851 Cause of Death: Unknown/None Rank / Occupation: Rear Admiral Organisation: Imperial Russian Navy
Extra
Notes: 1780-1851. Died in Vienna. Buried in crypt of cathedral of St Vladimir, Sebastopol. Russian Antarctic Expedition 1819-21, Bibliography: 'Polar Record' vol. 35, p.153, (Cambridge, 1999).
Cairn at Glen Prosen, Angus commemorating Captain Robert Falcon Scott RN and Edward Adrian Wilson both d. 1912
Location
Glen Prosen, Angus, Scotland
Transcript
'Given into the care of the people of Cortachy / For them to hold in remembrance / ROBERT FALCON SCOTT and / EDWARD ADRIAN WILSON / Who knew this glen: they reached the / South Pole on 17 January 1912 and / Died together on the Great Ice Barrier / March 1912 / For the journey is done and the / Summit attained and the barriers fall.'
Details
Description: Engraved stone plaque on a cairn. It replaces the original monument on the site which was a fountain. Expedition planning took place at Dr Edward Wilson's home nearby. Type: Cairn Materials: Stone
People
Scott, Robert Falcon Age: 43 Date of Death: 3/1912 Cause of Death: Unknown/None Rank / Occupation: Captain RN Organisation: Royal Navy Wilson, Edward Adrian Age: Date of Death: 3/1912 Cause of Death: Unknown/None Rank / Occupation: Organisation:
Wall memorial in City Hall, Cardiff, Wales commemorating Captain Robert Falcon Scott RN d. 1912
Location
City Hall, Cardiff, Wales
Transcript
'ROBERT FALCON SCOTT KCB CVO / BORN 6TH JUNE 1868 AT DEVONPORT DIED 29TH MARCH 1912 / WHILST RETURNING FROM THE SOUTH POLE / CAPTAIN IN HIS MAJETY'S ROYAL NAVY, ANTARCTIC EXPLORER / COMMANDER OF THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 1910 / LEFT CARDIFF IN THE "TERRA NOVA" ON THE 15TH JUNE 1910 / REACHED THE SOUTH POLE 18TH JANUARY 1912 / "TO STRIVE, TO SEEK, TO FIND AND NOT TO YIELD. / VICTORY FOR HIM WAS SWALLOWED UP IN DEATH / THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED TO COMMEMORATE THE MEMORY OF ONE / WHO SACRIFICED HIS LIFE TO OBTAIN GLORY FOR HIS BELOVED COUNTRY / ALDERMAN MORGAN THOMAS JP LORD MAYOR 1912-13 / DAN RADCLIFFE JP HON. TREASURER / J.L. WHEATLEY TOWN CLERK.
Details
Description: Captain Scott in high relief above the inscription tablet, half-length in uniform. A low relief of 'Terra Nova' above flanked by seals. Upright skiis and penguins flank the inscription, a dog sled below. Coat of arms at the bottom. Type: Wall memorial Position: On stairs left of main entrance Materials: Bronze Date Erected: 1916 Artists: W. Wheatley Wagstaffe Vessel: Terra Nova
People
Scott, Robert Falcon Age: 43 Date of Death: 3/1912 Cause of Death: Malnutrition, starvation and hypothermia Rank / Occupation: Captain RN Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Bibliography: Anthony M. Johnson 'Scott of the Antarctic and Cardiff' (Cardiff, 1984) p.57. Recorder: B. Tomlinson Photographer: B. Tomlinson
Monument in Westminster Abbey, London commemorating Rear Admiral of the Blue, Sir John Franklin RN d. 1847 and Admiral Sir Francis McClintlock RN d. 1907
Location
Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England
Transcript
[Side] 'TO THE MEMORY / OF / SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, / BORN APRIL 16 / 1786 / AT SPILSBY / LINCOLNSHIRE / DIED JUNE 11 / 1847 / OFF POINT VICTORY IN THE FROZEN OCEAN / THE BELOVED CHIEF / OF THE GALLANT CREWS / WHO PERISHED WITH HIM / IN COMPLETING / THE DISCOVERY OF THE / NORTH WEST PASSAGE'
[Front] 'O YE FROST AND COLD, O YE ICE AND SNOW / BLESS YE THE LORD PRAISE HIM AND MAGNIFY HIM FOR EVER.' / 'NOT HERE: THE WHITE NORTH HAS THY BONES; AND THOU, / HEROIC SAILOR-SOUL / ART PASSING ON THY HAPPIER VOYAGE NOW / TOWARD NO EARTHLY POLE'.
[Below] 'HERE ALSO IS COMMEMORATED / ADMIRAL SIR LEOPOLD McCLINTOCK / 1819-1907 / DISCOVERER OF THE FATE OF FRANKLIN / IN 1859'.
[Right side] 'THIS MONUMENT / WAS ERECTED / BY JANE, HIS WIDOW, / WHO AFTER LONG WAITING, / AND SENDING MANY / IN SEARCH OF HIM, / HERSELF DEPARTED / TO SEEK AND FIND HIM / IN THE REALMS OF LIGHT / JULY 18, 1875, / AGED 83 YEARS'
Details
Description: A bust of Franklin within a gothic arch. A relief of ships beset in ice below. At the top, the Franklin crest - a congar eel head head and the motto: 'NISU'. Type: Monument Position: Chapel of St John the Evangelist, North transept north aisle Materials: White marble, alabaster Date Erected: 1875 Artists: Matthew Noble, George Gilbert Scott
People
Franklin, John Age: 61 Date of Death: 11/6/1847 Cause of Death: Unknown Rank / Occupation: Rear Admiral of the Blue Organisation: Royal Navy McClintock, Francis Leopold Age: 88 Date of Death: 1907 Cause of Death: Unknown Rank / Occupation: Admiral Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Notes: See also West window in St Paul's Church, Whitechapel which shows four maritime scenes from life of Christ. Verse written by Tennyson. Commissioned by Lady Jane Franklin, who specifically wanted a bust rather than the window suggested by Dean Stanley. The canopy was added by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Photograph in P & D box 1386. A small tablet underneath the memorial commemorates Admiral F.L. McClintock. The original plaster model for the bust of Franklin was at the Museum of Science and Engineering, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Bibliography: F. Bond 'Westminster Abbey' (1909) p. 267. Frances J. Woodward 'A portrait of Jane' (London, 1951) p. 362. Recorder: B. Tomlinson Photographer: B. Tomlinson
Gravestone at North Star Bay, Greenland commemorating William Sharp RN d. 1849
Location
Thule air base, North Star Bay, Greenland, Rest of the World
Transcript
'SACRED / to the / MEMORY / Of Wm. Sharp / of H.M.S. North / Star; who departed / this life Nov, 1, / 1849 / AGED, 26 / YEARS'
Details
Type: Gravestone Position: near building 1201 Vessel: HMS North Star
People
Sharp, William Age: 26 Date of Death: 1/11/1849 Cause of Death: Unknown/None Rank / Occupation: Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Notes: Three other crew members buried nearby. Bibliography: Ann Savours 'The Search for the North West Passage' (London, 1999) pp. 197-198. Photographer: Captain Anthony R. Wade 2008
Memorial at Woodplumpton to Commander Henry Foster RN d. 1831
Location
St Anne's Church, Woodplumpton, Lancashire, England
Transcript
'SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF / HENRY FOSTER, R.N., F.R.S. / DISTINGUISHED AS WELL FOR SUPERIORITY OF INTELLECT AS URBANITY OF/MANNERS, BY A ZEALOUS AND FIRM DISCHARGE OF DUTY / HE GAINED THE CONFIDENCE AND REGARD OF HIS OF HIS BROTHER OFFICERS / AND BY A SUCCESSFUL PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE / ATTRACTED THE NOTICE OF MEN OF SCIENCE / FOR HIS PHILOSOPHICAL EXPERIMENTS MADE IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS / THE COPLEY MEDAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY / WAS PRESENTED TO HIM ON 30TH NOVEMBER, 1827, / WHEN THE LORD HIGH ADMIRAL OF ENGLAND WITH AN ALACRITY / HONOURABLE TO HIMSELF AND TO THE SUBJECT OF HIS PATRONAGE / INSTANTLY PROMOTED HIM TO THE RANK OF COMMANDER. / IN THE YEAR FOLLOWING HE SAILED ON A VOYAGE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. / HE HAD COMPLETED HIS ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS AT PANAMA, / AND ALL THINGS HAD PROSPERED IN HIS HAND; WHEN, PROCEEDING TO/HIS SHIP AND ANTICIPATING A SPEEDY RETURN TO HIS NATIVE SHORE, HE / FELL FROM A CANOE AND IN A MOMENT WAS LOST TO HIS COUNTRY / AND HIS FRIENDS. / HIS BODY SHROUDED IN THE BRITISH FLAG WAS INTERRED NEAR THE FATAL / SPOT ON THE BANK OF THE RIVER CHAGRE IN THE GULPH [sic] OF MEXICO / ON THE 8TH FEBRUARY, 1831, AND IN THE 34TH YEAR OF HIS AGE / THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY SEVERAL OF HIS COMPANIONS AND FRIENDS / AS A MEMORIAL OF THE HIGH ESTEEM THEY ENTERTAINED FOR HIS / CHARACTER, AND OF THE DEEP REGARD THEY FELT FOR HIS / UNTIMELY DEATH. / HE WAS THE SON OF THE REV. HENRY FOSTER, / INCUMBENT OF THIS CHAPELRY.' [ON BASE] 'IN MEMORY / OF THE REVEREND / HENRY FOSTER LATE INCUMBENT / OF THIS CHAPELRY UPWARDS OF 33 YEARS / DIED AUGUST 7TH 1844 AGED 84 YEARS'
Details
Description: A mourning seaman leaning on a pillar inscribed 'FOSTER' surmounted an urn and flanked by an anchor, flag and navigational instruments. Type: Wall monument Materials: Marble
People
Foster, Henry Age: 34 Date of Death: 2/1831 Cause of Death: Maritime accident Rank / Occupation: Commander RN Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Notes: DOSSIER. Bibliography: Editors: Ann Savours and Anita McConnell 'Journal Kept by Midshipman Joseph Henry Kay during the Voyage of HMS Chanticleer, 1828-1831', 'Four Travel Journals: The Americas, Antarctica and Africa, 1775-1874.' (The Hakluyt Society, 2007) p.266. Recorder: Peter Sheppard, Ann Shirley 1999
Gravestone at St Giles’s Church, Chideock, Dorset, commemorating William Brett d. 1878
Location
St Giles's Church, Chideock, Dorset, England
Transcript
'In affectionate remembrance of William Brett who died May 9 1878 Aged 54'
Details
Type: Gravestone Position: East End of churchyard Vessel: HMS Investigator
Event
Crimea War
Event Date
1853-1856
Event Category
19th century conflicts in Asia
People
Brett, William Age: 54 Date of Death: 9/5/1878 Cause of Death: Unknown/None Rank / Occupation: Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Notes: Arthur Mee's 'Dorset' says he was captured by the press gang when a lad in Ireland, fought in the Crimea, was on one of the Franklin Search expeditions, saved many lives from drowning and Queen Victoria presenting him with his 6th medal said 'I am proud of you'. Captain of the Foretop, HMS Investigator 1848-49 (Sir James Clark Ross, search expedition in 'Enterprise' and 'Investigator'). Bibliography: Arthur Mee, 'Dorset', Hodder & Stoughton, 1947 Recorder: David Sauners, 1991
Memorial at St Oswald’s Church, Grasmere, Cumberland commemorating Sir John Richardson d. 1865, polar explorer
Location
St Oswald's Church, Grasmere, Cumberland, England
Transcript
'IN MEMORY OF SIR JOHN RICHARDSON CB / THE CONSTANT COMPANION / OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN / IN ARCTIC EXPLORATION / BORN AT DUMFRIES 5 NOVEMBER 1787 / DIED AT LANCRIGG 5 JUNE 1865 / HEROIC SAILOR-SOUL / AND AS THE GREATEST ONLY ARE / IN HIS SIMPLICITY SUBLIME'
Details
People
Richardson, John Age: Date of Death: 5/6/1865 Cause of Death: Unknown/None Rank / Occupation: Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Notes: Lancrigg was a local farmhouse that had been inherited by Richardson's wife. Richardson retired there during the last ten years of his life. The quotations are from the works of Alfred Lord Tennyson. Photographer: B. Tomlinson 2019
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Commemorating seafarers and victims of maritime disasters