Andrew Nelson collection

The collection comprises of material relating to the Discovery Investigations, (1924-1951) 1930-1933 and correspondence by Nelson.

Andrew Laidlaw Nelson was born in 1904 at Clydebank, Scotland. He joined the Merchant Navy and was a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve when he joined the Discovery Committee, serving as navigator, first officer and finally captain of Discovery II between 1929 and 1935. In addition to these duties, he was responsible for organizing surveys of the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkney Islands and part of the South Shetland Islands. He was co-author, with Stanley Wells Kemp, of a report on the South Sandwich Islands in the Discovery Reports. A skilled navigator and scientific observer, his sounding charts contributed much of what is known of the bottom topography of the Southern Ocean.

During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Navy, retiring with the rank of captain. After the war, he was employed as an oceanographer at Lamont Geological Observatory, a division of Columbia University. He died on 26 August 1958 in New Jersey.

Published work 'The South Sandwich Islands' by Stanley Wells Kemp and A.L. Nelson Discovery Reports 1931

The collection is split into two sub-fonds covering expedition material and correspondence respectively.

By appointment.

Some materials deposited at the Institute are NOT owned by the Institute. In such cases the archivist will advise about any requirements imposed by the owner. These may include seeking permission to read, extended closure, or other specific conditions.

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The term holograph is used when the item is wholly in the handwriting of the author. The term autograph is used when the author has signed the item.

Descriptions compiled by N. Boneham, Assistant Archivist with assistance from R. Stancombe and reference to Robert Keith Headland Antarctic Chronology, unpublished corrected revision of Chronological list of Antarctic expeditions and related historical events, (1 December 2001) Cambridge University Press (1989) ISBN 0521309034 and The Polar Record volume 9 number 61 January 1959 p377 and British polar exploration and research, a historical and medallic record with biographies 1818-1999 by Lieutenant Colonel Neville W. Poulsom and Rear Admiral John A.L. Myres, Savannah Publications, London (2000) SPRI Library Shelf 737.2 and Encyclopaedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans ed. Bernard Stonehouse, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (2002) ISBN 0471986658 SPRI Library (7)

Clive Holland Manuscripts in the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England - a catalogue. Garland Publishing New York and London (1982) ISBN 0824093941.

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