On September 2, 1908, at Hampton Court Palace, Captain Scott was married to Kathleen, daughter of the late Canon Lloyd Bruce. Peter Markham Scott was born on September 14, 1909.
On September 13, 1909, Captain Scott published his plans for the British Antarctic Expedition of the following year, and his appeal resulted in £10,000 being collected as a nucleus fund. Then the Government made a grant of £20,000, and grants followed from the Governments of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Nine days after the plans were published arrangements were made to purchase the steamship Terra Nova, the largest and strongest of the old Scottish whalers. The original date chosen for sailing was August 1, 1910, but owing to the united efforts of those engaged upon the fitting out and stowing of the ship, she was able to leave Cardiff on June 15. Business, however, prevented Captain Scott from leaving England until a later date, and in consequence he sailed in the Saxon to South Africa, and there awaited the arrival of the Terra Nova.
BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1910
| SHORE PARTIES |
| |
| Officers |
| | Name | Rank, &c. |
|---|
| | Robert Falcon Scott | Captain, C.V.O., R.N. |
| | Edward R. G. R. Evans | Lieutenant, R.N. |
| | Victor L. A. Campbell | Lieutenant, R.N. (Emergency List) |
| | Henry R. Bowers | Lieutenant, R.I.M. |
| | Lawrence E. G. Oates | Captain 6th Inniskilling Dragoons. |
| | G. Murray Levick | Surgeon, R.N. |
| | Edward L. Atkinson | Surgeon, R.N., Parasitologist. |
| |
| Scientific Staff |
| |
| | Edward Adrian Wilson | B.A., M.B. (Cantab), Chief of the Scientific Staff, and Zoologist. |
| | George C. Simpson | D.Sc., Meteorologist. |
| | T. Griffith Taylor | B.A., B.Sc., B.E., Geologist. |
| | Edward W. Nelson | Biologist. |
| | Frank Debenham | B.A., B.Sc., Geologist. |
| | Charles S. Wright | B.A., Physicist. |
| | Raymond E. Priestley | Geologist. |
| | Herbert G. Ponting | F.R.G.S, Camera Artist. |
| | Cecil H. Meares | In Charge of Dogs. |
| | Bernard C. Day | Motor Engineer. |
| | Apsley Cherry-Garrard | B.A., Asst. Zoologist. |
| | Tryggve Gran | Sub-Lieutenant, Norwegian N.R., B.A., Ski Expert. |
| |
| Men |
| |
| | W. Lashly | Chief Stoker, R.N. |
| | W. W. Archer | Chief Steward, late R.N. |
| | Thomas Clissold | Cook, late R.N. |
| | Edgar Evans | Petty Officer, R.N. |
| | Robert Forde | Petty Officer, R.N. |
| | Thomas Crean | Petty Officer, R.N. |
| | Thomas S. Williamson | Petty Officer, R.N. |
| | Patrick Keohane | Petty Officer, R.N. |
| | George P. Abbott | Petty Officer, R.N. |
| | Frank V. Browning | Petty Officer, 2nd class, R.N. |
| | Harry Dickason | Able Seaman, R.N. |
| | F. J. Hooper | Steward, late R.N. |
| | Anton Omelchenko | Groom. |
| | Demetri Gerof | Dog Driver. |
| |
| SHIP'S PARTY |
| |
| Officers, &c. |
| |
| | Harry L. L. Pennell | Lieutenant, R.N. |
| | Henry E. de P. Rennick | Lieutenant, R.N. |
| | Wilfred M. Bruce | Lieutenant, R.N.R. |
| | Francis R. H. Drake | Asst. Paymaster, R.N. (Retired), Secretary and Meteorologist in Ship. |
| | Denis G. Lillie | M.A., Biologist in Ship. |
| |
| | James R. Dennistoun | In Charge of Mules in Ship. |
| | Alfred B. Cheetham | R.N.R., Boatswain. |
| | William Williams | Chief Engine-room Artificer, R.N., 2nd Engineer. |
| | William A. Horton | Eng. Rm. Art. 3rd Class, R.N. 2nd Engineer. |
| | Francis E. C. Davies | Leading Shipwright, R.N. |
| | Frederick Parsons | Petty Officer, R.N. |
| | William L. Heald | Late P.O., R.N. |
| | Arthur S. Bailey | Petty Officer, 2nd Class, R.N. |
| | Albert Balson | Leading Seaman, R.N. |
| | Joseph Leese | Able Seaman, R.N. |
| | John Hugh Mather | Petty Officer, R.N.V.R. |
| | Robert Oliphant | Able Seaman. |
| | Thomas F. McLeod | Able Seaman. |
| | Mortimer McCarthy | Able Seaman. |
| | William Knowles | Able Seaman. |
| | Charles Williams | Able Seaman. |
| | James Skelton | Able Seaman. |
| | William McDonald | Able Seaman. |
| | James Paton | Able Seaman. |
| | Robert Brissenden | Leading Stoker, R.N. |
| | Edward A. McKenzie | Leading Stoker, R.N. |
| | William Burton | Leading Stoker, R.N. |
| | Bernard J. Stone | Leading Stoker, R.N. |
| | Angus McDonald | Fireman. |
| | Thomas McGillon | Fireman. |
| | Charles Lammas | Fireman. |
| | W. H. Neale | Steward. |
CHAPTER I
THROUGH STORMY SEAS
The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound.—COLERIDGE.
|
No sooner was it known that Scott intended to lead another Antarctic expedition than he was besieged by men anxious to go with him. The selection of a small company from some eight thousand volunteers was both a difficult and a delicate task, but the fact that the applications were so numerous was at once a convincing proof of the interest shown in the expedition, and a decisive answer to the dismal cry that the spirit of romance and adventure no longer exists in the British race.
On June 15, 1910, the Terra Nova left Cardiff upon her great mission, and after a successful voyage arrived, on October 28, at Lyttelton. There an enormous amount of work had to be done before she could be ready to leave civilization, but as usual the kindness received in New Zealand was 'beyond words.'