Worsley, British Arctic Expedition

• MS 737/3;MJ Log book, 9 April to 3 November 1925 [On board Lady of Avenel] microfilm
• MS 1613/7;D Clearance label and Victualling Bill
• MS 1613/11;D Press cuttings regarding the Lady of Avenel and the British Arctic Expedition, 1925
• MS 1613/5/1;D Typescript of an article, 13 July 1937 [Called Sunset to Sunrise in the Arctic, A Polar Transformation] annotated and autographed
• MS 1613/5/2;D Typescript of an article, undated [Called Under Sail In The Frozen North, an account of the British Arctic Expedition] autographed

The British Arctic Expedition, 1925-1926 (led by Worsley) sailed along the west coast of Spitsbergen. Worsley shared command with Grettir Algarsson. They had originally planed an expedition involving an Arctic flight to the North Pole but this did not eventuate.

The expedition searched for Gillis Land, which had been sited in 1707 as being between Spitsbergen and Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa (Franz Joseph Land). The expedition ship Lady of Avenel was renamed Island. She sailed to Frantsa-Iosifa where in Worsley and fellow expedition member Gordon Burt claimed to be the first New Zealanders to reach so far north.

Chronological

The Institute holds archival material relating to this expedition in the James Marr collection

The expedition is recounted in Under sail in the frozen north by F A Worsley, (1927) Stanley Paul and Co, London. SPRI Library Shelf (3)91(08)[1925]