EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Brief Description of item(s)

An Antarctic sledge and framed plaque, used on the British Antarctic Expedition (‘Nimrod Expedition’), 1907-09, retained by Eric Marshall

Eric Marshall’s sledge flag used on the British Antarctic Expedition (‘Nimrod Expedition’), 1907-09.

Materials: Ash and hickory with fibre and rawhide bindings Dimensions: 3360mm x 600mm x 200mm Manufacturer: LH Hagen and Co, Oslo, Norway, 1907 Date: 1907-1909

Condition: The sledge is in remarkably good condition despite having been on display for probably several decades and is an excellent example of a Nansen sledge with the rawhide bindings and tow ropes still in place.

The sledge flag has not fared quite so well. The damaging effects of having been on display for a lengthy period are manifest. The condition, however, is not unusual for sledging flags. They are personal items, have undergone extreme conditions - it was almost certainly not pristine when Marshall returned from Antarctica, but the effects of display in non-museum conditions are evident. A skilled conservator could certainly improve the condition significantly and ensure its future stability.

2. Context

Provenance: Both items belonged to Dr Eric Marshall, surgeon and polar explorer. Dr Eric Marshall was a member of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-09 (Nimrod) led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, which aimed to reach the South Pole. Marshall was one of the four men picked to join the Southern Party to undertake the sledge march to the pole, which was famously abandoned less than 100 miles from their intended destination, which was the record for a farthest south until Amundsen and Scott conquered the pole in three years later.

These items were returned to the UK on the Nimrod and retained by Marshall until the 1950s, when he donated them to his alma mater Monkton Combe School in Bath. They have been kept at the school and displayed until the present day. The school has offered them up for sale.

References: These items are illustrated in the photographs captured during the expedition. The flag is particularly recognisable in several images published in Ernest Shackleton’s account of the expedition, Heart of the Antarctic, 1909.

3. Waverley criteria

These items meet Waverley Criterion One. It is so closely connected with our history (including local history) and national life that its departure would be a misfortune.

These items are associated with one of the most significant British Antarctic expeditions in history and certainly the one which made the name of Ernest Shackleton as a leader. Because these items travelled with their owner, Eric Marshall, to the farthest south point in the Antarctic on the 9th January 1909, offer us a unique and tangible connection with this momentous expedition.

There is an argument to make for the sledging flag meeting Waverly Criterion Three – Outstanding significance for the study of some particular branch of art, learning or history.

Sledging flags are rare survivors. They are handmade, personal items which have generally undergone the most gruelling of conditions, so return home in poor condition. However, as items of historical value, they are of huge interest. This one, because of its association with this major expedition, with Ernest Shackleton and as an item of social historical value, it would be a great loss for it not to be secured in public ownership. There are a few sledge flags in public collections already, those of Shackleton, Scott, Cherry Garrard and other notable Antarctica explorers are in museums in the UK and this would add to that body of historical material which can tell us a great deal about the individuals as well as the wider significance.

DETAILED CASE

1. Detailed description of item(s) if more than in Executive summary, and any comments.

The sledge, as a sledge, is not in itself unique. The ‘Nansen pattern’ sledge is one commonly seen in both the Antarctic and the Arctic and several exist in museum collections around the world, in various states of repair. There are indeed some still in use at Antarctic stations today, such is the efficiency and strength of the design. Eighteen such sledges were ordered for the British Antarctic Expedition and put into hard use. Some have survived and we know of seven of them in the Te Papa Museum in New Zealand and fragments of Shackleton’s sledge in the Scott Polar Research Institute.

However, it is the particular known association with the man, Marshall, and the southern party expedition which makes this sledge unique. We know that this sledge was hauled, first by pony and then by man, to within 97.5 miles of the South Pole on the 9th January 1909 and back again to the hut at Discovery Point, bearing the dwindling supplies and equipment needed by the four men to survive. It bore, at times, Marshall’s sledging flag, which is a prominent feature in many of the photographic records of the expedition.

The sledging flag, is by its very nature, a unique item. Handmade and designed by expedition members or their partners, they were highly personal often bearing heraldic motifs relevant to the family or the individual character. This one, we know travelled with Marshall to the farthest south point in 1909, occasionally it will have flown from his sledge, but more often worn ‘tied in back to keep warm’ (Marshall’s diary). The prominence of this flag in several of the photographic images from the expedition published at the time and in Heart of the Antarctic Ernest Shackleton’s celebrated account of the attempt on the South Pole make this a visible and recognisable heritage artefact from this significant expedition.

2. Detailed explanation of the outstanding significance of the item(s).

The British Antarctic Expedition (BAE) (1907-09) was the first of three Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton. It was the one which made his name and earned him his knighthood and CVO upon his return. At this time the South Pole was yet to be conquered. Captain Scott had tried and failed with Shackleton in his crew, so it was very much unfinished business for Shackleton. The expedition itself accomplished several feats including, scientific discoveries, first ascents and new mapping, but it was the attempt on the pole which gives it significance.

Shackleton selected three men to accompany him on the Great Southern Journey. Eric Marshall was selected along with Frank Wild and Jameson Adams to make the 1708 mile journey with ponies to the pole. The trek was arduous, beset with bad weather, the ponies proved a poor choice and all were lost during the journey. After ten weeks and having covered all but the last 97 miles of the journey having had to haul all their supplies themselves, and the food supplies running desperately short, Shackleton had to make the hard decision, to stop and turn back. So, without having achieved their goal, but still having reached the farthest south at 88°23’S, he turned the party around to make the even more difficult journey back to the camp. A few days from Hut Point where they were to meet the ship the Nimrod, Shackleton deemed Marshall too ill to continue and on the 27th February left him in the care of Adams whilst he and Frank Wild made for the ship, to secure rations ad then return to rescue them. On the 2nd March a rescue party brought Marshall and Adams back the hut and the ship.

This expedition is recognised as Shackleton’s most significant, it was the expedition which, whilst it failed to accomplish its main aim – to reach the South Pole, it was the expedition where his most significant geographical achievements, greatest deeds and most momentous decisions were made. It was the expedition for which he was recognised and received greatest acclaim and has endured over the last century as an example of leadership, courage and endurance. Shackleton’s expeditions are recognised and remembered all over the world and his leadership evident in this one held up as an exemplar. Material culture from this expedition is rare and artefacts from the Southern journey rarer still.

Associated figures: Sir Ernest Shackleton needs little introduction. Known as one of the greatest explorers in history, his accomplishments, and indeed failure, but more importantly his response to adversity place him as one of the greatest Britons. The leadership and courage he demonstrated during this expedition is legendary and referenced still today by teachers of leadership across the world.

Eric Marshall was selected by Shackleton to join the expedition as chief surgeon, photographer and cartographer after they met at a house party in London in 1906. Marshall proved himself to be a vital member of the expedition and impressed Shackleton with his stoicism “Marshall suffered greatly but stuck to the march, He never complains” (Shackleton, Heart of the Antarctic 1909). Marshall was born in 1879, educated at Monckton Combe School and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He represented his college in rowing and football. He first studied for the church but later entered St Bartholomew’s hospital in 1899 and qualified as a surgeon in 1906. He was captain of the rugby team at St Bart’s and played for his local club. In 1906 he was selected by Shackleton to join the BAE and was one of four men to attempt to reach the pole, reaching within 97miles of their target before turning back. After the expedition he continued with expeditions until he served in France during the Great War. His career took him around the world and he died in 1963 on the Isle of Wight.

Significance: The specific provenance for these items such as this is rare. There were several sledges used during the expedition, probably interchangeably, and indeed some will have been lost, used for repairs and suchlike. For this particular sledge we have evidence that this is the one used by Marshall during the quest for the pole and his attachment to it and retention of it is remarkable and significant.

Eric Marshall’s local connections are with Hampstead in Surrey, Monkton Combe School in Bath, Emmanuel College, Cambridge and St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Each of these do have collections and museums and all acknowledge Marshall as a significant alumnus, but these items sit outside the collecting policies of the Hampstead Museum and St Bartholomew’s Hospital. The school is the vendor.

These items are, without doubt, of national importance. As rare survivors of one of the most significant Antarctic expeditions of the heroic age, these tell a story in a way that other surviving artefacts cannot. The National Maritime Museum has a gimballed lamp bracket from the Nimrod, but in the words of the curator “it's quite difficult to convey what the expedition was doing through a brass lamp bracket!” and the Scott Polar Research Institute has two fragments of Shackleton’s own sledge, which suffers similar performance anxiety. So these two complete and charismatic items can tell a story in the most visual and physical way. These items should take their pace in a public collection so that they might be used to inspire visitors with their story in the way that they clearly have done during their stay at Monckton Combe School.

Summary of related items in public/private ownership in the UK

• Scott Polar research Institute holds 30 items from the expedition, including Shackleton’s sledging flag, union flag, food items, navigational aids and clothing.

• National Maritime Museum holds just the lamp bracket.

• Personal items and sledge belonging to Percy Brocklehurst (BAE expedition member) are in the ownership of his descendants.

Marshall’s sledging flag