George Abbott collection

The collection comprises of correspondence by Abbott written during the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913 (leader Robert Falcon Scott) and later correspondence to fellow expedition member Apsley Cherry-Garrard.

George Percy Abbott was a petty officer in the Royal Navy and served on the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913 (leader Robert Falcon Scott) as petty officer on board the expedition ship Terra Nova.

On arrival in Antarctica Abbott was transferred to the shore party and was chosen as a member of the Northern Party led by Victor Campbell, this group spent the first year at Cape Adare and the second year exploring and sledging along the Victoria Land coast. When Terra Nova was unable to relieve the party they wintered for seven months in a snow cave on Inexpressible Island without adequate supplies before returning safely to the base at Cape Evans. Abbott was awarded the polar medal for his part in the expedition.

After the expedition, Abbott served in the navy throughout the First World War. He died in 1923.

The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by recipient.

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Descriptions compiled by N. Boneham, Assistant Archivist with assistance from R. Stancombe and reference to Encyclopaedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans ed. Bernard Stonehouse, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (2002) ISBN 0471986658 SPRI Library (7) and Robert Keith Headland Antarctic Chronology, unpublished corrected revision of Chronological list of Antarctic expeditions and related historical events, (1 December 2001) Cambridge University Press (1989) ISBN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

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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