Henry Ernest Wild collection

The collection comprises of material created during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition [Ross Sea Party], 1914-1917 (Captains Mackintosh and Stenhouse).

Henry [Harry] Ernest Wild was born in Nettleton, Lincolnshire, in 1880, the brother of John Robert Francis [Frank] Wild. After leaving school at the age of fifteen, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, serving at home and abroad, and was promoted to petty officer. He joined the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition [Ross Sea Party], 1914-1917 (leader Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton), as a general assistant.

Wild participated in the gruelling sledging programme to lay a chain of depots across the Ross Ice Shelf towards the Beardmore Glacier, providing all that was needed for those crossing the continent with Shackleton.

After the expedition, he returned to the Navy, joining the minesweeper HMS Biarritz at Malta. In February 1918, he contracted typhoid and died on 10 March 1918. Five years later, he was awarded the Albert Medal posthumously for his bravery in Antarctica.

The collection is arranged chronologically.

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.

Anyone wishing to consult material should ensure they note the entire MS reference and the name of the originator.

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Assistant Archivist with assistance from R. Stancombe and reference to Robert Keith Headland Antarctic Chronology, unpublished corrected revision of Chronological list of Antarctic expeditions and related historical events, (1 December 2001) Cambridge University Press (1989) ISBN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 Polar portraits, collected papers by A.G.E. Jones, Caedmon of Whitby (1992) SPRI Library Shelf (2)91(091) and SPRI Library Antarctic Biographies Card Index 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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Further accessions possible