Shackleton, British National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904

• MS 575/2;MJ Journal, 14 August to 30 September 1901 [From approach to Madeira to arrival in Cape Town] microfilm
• MS 667/3-4;BJ Notebooks (2), 1901 and 1902 [Rough calculations relating to marine salinities] 2 volumes, holograph
• MS 689/7;BJ Observations, 1901 to 1902 [Temperatures, density and salinity of sea-water] 1 volume, holograph
• MS 689/9;BJ Notebook, 1901 to 1903 [Sea-water observations and analyses] 1 volume, holograph
• MS 1537/3/4/1-2;BJ Diaries (2), December 1901 to February 1903 [Volume I December 1901 to May 1902, Volume II May 1902 to February 1903] bound typescript copies
• MS 100/135;BJ Journal, 21 December 1901 to 9 May 1903 [Abstract by Hugh Robert Mill] 3 leaves
• MS 366/12/4;ER Report, 19 to 22 February 1902 [Sledge journey to White Island, including sketches by Edward Adrian Wilson, In Papers of the British National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904, volume 2 item 4]
• MS 1537/3/13;BJ Diary, 19 March 1902 to 28 October 1903 [Includes a loose page of notes and a pass for leave from the ship] 1 volume, holograph
• MS 1537/3/5;D Diary, 2 November 1902 to 3 February 1904 [Southern journey, typescript with some differences from the original and sent in an envelope addressed to Miss Emily Dorman] typescript
• MS 1537/2/5/1;D Journal, 28 February 1903 to 19 March 1903, holograph
• MS 1537/2/16/1;D Diary fragments, 28 February to 1 March 1903
• MS 1537/3/12;BJ Diary, 5 November to 27 January 1903 [Southern journey] holograph
• MS 1537/2/34/14;D Typed copy of L'Envoi, undated [Written for the South Polar Times, with changes]

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. 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 Shackleton and Edward Wilson achieved a furthest south of 82°17'S on 30 December 1902. The expedition ship, Discovery, commissioned and built especially for the expedition was beset in McMurdo Sound from 1902-1904.

The collection comprises of diaries, journals, work books and other ephemera created during the expedition

Chronological

MS 575/2;MJ is a copy

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to this expedition and the two relief expeditions mounted to Discovery in McMurdo Sound. See SPRI collections GB 15 British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904 and British Relief Expeditions, 1902-1903-1904 for more information.

MS 575/2;MJ Original in Mitchell Library Australia (1982)