Whitefield, correspondence

• MS 1366/2;D Letter to Mrs Cole, 24 February 1903 [From Discovery winter quarters, giving news of the expedition] 7 leaves, holograph (Xerox)

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

Whitefield served as stoker on the Discovery.

The Scott Polar Research Institute holds a number of photographs, film and other illustrative material in the Picture Library, some of which covers this expedition. The catalogue can be searched on line by going to the Picture Library Database and selecting the Enter Polar Pictures link.

The Institute holds over seventy archival collections containing material relating to this expedition see SPRI collection GB 015 British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904 for more information.