The Great Explorers by Robin Hanbury-Tenison

Author:Robin Hanbury-Tenison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
Published: 2018-08-22T16:00:00+00:00

Scientist, Doctor, Naturalist, Artist

1872–1912

Words must always fail me when I talk of Bill Wilson. I believe he really is the finest character I ever met.

ROBERT FALCON SCOTT, JOURNALS, 22 OCTOBER 1911

In the early 20th century Antarctica was the last unexplored continent and Edward Wilson was in the vanguard of its exploration. A naturalist, artist and doctor he was the only officer to go with Scott on both his Antarctic expeditions. Wilson took part in many of the early voyages, discovering the horrors of sledge-hauling at sub-zero temperatures. With Scott and Shackleton, he achieved ‘Furthest South’ in December 1902, and his fascination with Emperor Penguins resulted in an extraordinary sortie, the first ever in the Antarctic midwinter, to obtain specimens of their eggs. In 1912 he reached the South Pole with Scott and three companions. All five British explorers died on the ill-fated return.

Wilson was born in Cheltenham to a family of ‘doers’: a great-grandfather made a fortune in railways and land; his mother was artistic and also an author; and an uncle, Major General Sir Charles Wilson, commanded the attempt to rescue Gordon of Khartoum. But as a young man Wilson did not plan for business, the army or exploration. He studied medicine at Cambridge and St George’s Hospital, London. A serious respiratory illness, diagnosed as tuberculosis, made his preferred career as a surgeon inadvisable and the offer of the post of doctor, zoologist and artist on the Discovery expedition led by Scott, venturing to explore and scientifically record the mysteries of Antarctica, was tailor-made for him. Scott wrote later that Wilson’s appointment was one of the things he had the greatest cause to be thankful for.

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