The last days of ernest shackleton on the Quest isbn 9781901037210

 The last days of Ernest Shackleton

isbn: 9781901037210

£35

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The Last Days of Ernest Shackleton, is a unique and fully illustrated account of Shackleton’s death and burial in South Georgia from the personal point of view of a seaman on the Quest Expedition by the name of George Ross. George joined the Quest Expedition, at a place called Leith Harbour, in South Georgia, with the position donkey-man (a person in charge of a ships engine room) and he explains in detail the daily running of the ship after Shackleton’s death as a first hand account from a below decks crew members point of view. Along with George’s first hand account the book covers both the funeral arrangements, the Shetland Pallbearers, a short history of Shackleton’s Scouts, and the speeches at the unveiling of the Shacketon memorial. 

This along with photos, maps, paintings and drawings of the expedition, crew, ship, Grytviken church, funeral and grave. To finish off the book the book contains an interview with the late Ernest Shackleton where he explains in his own words how his life at sea started and how he would like to be remembered.

About the Author

Mr. GEORGE HENRY ROSS, was with Shackleton on his 1921-22 expedition to the South Pole. Mr. Ross was one of the last survivors of the ill-fated Shackleton expedition. He was whaling in South Georgia when he joined the ship Quest as a donkeyman. 

He was born in London and, at the start of an adventurous career, went to sea when he was 14. In 1913 he went to the Shetlands, where two years later he married a Shetland girl. Mr. Ross was one of the first men from the Shetlands to join up at the outbreak of the first world war. He was in the battle of Jutland, and was seriously injured while serving in the Royal Navy. Lumberjack: After that war he went to South Georgia. Between the Shackleton expedition and the second world war he worked as a lumberjack in Canada. Then he joined up again for service in the second war. Two of the ships in which he served as a gunlayer were torpedoed. For a time during the war he was based in Lowestoft. As well as whaling and lumberjacking, the other jobs Mr. 

Ross tackled including helping in hospitals and fishing. He claimed that there was not a country in the world he had not visited. He travelled round the world eight times. Mr. Ross came to Yarmouth from the Shetlands after the last war with the Scottish herring fleet. His wife, Mrs. Annie Ross, worked for more than 40 years as a fisher girl. Mr. and Mrs. Ross went into the boarding-house business at Yarmouth. They gave up their Albert Square boarding-house and moved to Havelock Road. 

The only thing they insisted on taking with them was the name of the house -- Shackleton House

Reviewed by  Steve Wroe ex British Antarctic Survey; 

So much has been written about the life and times of Earnest Shackleton that it comes as a surprise when a new book is published that sheds new information about him. 

The Last Days of Ernest Shackleton is such a book. The account, by George Ross, differs from other books in a number of ways. Ross gives his narrative from the perspective of someone who was working as a member of the crew on Shackleton’s last trip to South Georgia.  Ross (The narrator) joined the ship and worked as a ‘Donkeyman’ which entailed working in the engine room of the ship (arguably the worst place to work).  Prior to this, Ross held a number of jobs including lumberjack. Ross’s narrative is written in his own words which ensures a clear ‘easy’ style making the book a very enjoyable read. This book is enhanced by the inclusion of anecdotes and the minutiae of detail which could only come from someone who was there at the time, which makes this book different from many others and brings this book alive. Shackleton’s earlier life is also brought into focus and particularly his interest and enthusiasm for the early Boy Scout Movement under Baden Powell. Shackleton recognised, along with Baden Powell, the value of instilling the Scout Movement ethos in youth and supported this early movement. In fact, such was Shackleton’s commitment to the principles of the Scout Movement that he held a competition amongst 1700 Scouts for a chance to join Shackleton as his cabin boy. This number was whittled down to two and eventually James Marr from Aberdeen was to sail throughout the voyage. This story has an ironic twist as Marr later made several trips to the Antarctic as a marine biologist and was later instrumental in setting up the British Antarctic Survey. In support of the written narrative, the book contains a wealth of supporting information. This takes the form of photographs, maps and also hand drawn pictures and paintings, many of which were produced at the time. What I found to be particularly poignant was the description of Shackleton’s funeral and the level of detail with regards the information about the pallbearers (all from the Shetland Islands). I also found the inclusion of an interview with Shackleton of interest as are the text of speeches made in commemoration of Shackleton. Also in the book is included a clipping from a newspaper of the time, describing how Shackleton died in the arms of Ross. All of these pieces of information pull together to make for a ‘package’ creating a fascinating human insight into a great man. In summary, this book is a cornucopia of information of the kind that brings to life the final days of who is probably the most enigmatic figure of the ‘Heroic era’ of Polar exploration. Anybody with an interest in Shackleton or polar exploration will find this book a fascinating read