I am a member of a select group of Shackletonians known as Shackleton Nuts!
The group is led by John Mann and each month the Nuts contribute to various discussions – many of which are elucidations on anything and everything connected to Sir Ernest Shackleton, his expeditions and his men. As biographer of Shackleton’s right hand man Frank Wild I recently contributed the following…which sparked an interesting debate!
I was recently sent from South Africa this wonderful photo of Frank Wild with the Sons of England, Shackleton Lodge in Johannesburg. Many years ago I was given the cuttings referring to Wild donating the Quest Bell to the Lodge (attached) but imagine my delight to be sent this photograph by David Woods who had tracked me down through my book (which by the way the paperback second edition (updated) is due out shortly.) David’s grandfather (President) is in the photograph standing behind the bell and of course Frank is sitting to the left of the bell. The photograph was taken 1930 – 1931 when Frank was at one of his lowest points but he doesn’t look too shabby!
I met up with David Woods about a week ago when I was in Cape Town and he remembers as a little boy his grandfather telling him that Shackleton came to tea with Wild. What record is there of Shackleton visiting Johannesburg? Of course it would have been before the Lodge was opened in 1923.
We can only guess that the Quest bell is still in South Africa and I know of at least three people looking for it. As to WHO finds it will determine if it stays there or comes back here to the UK.
Angie Butler
The answer to her question is that Shackleton had a long association with South Africa and visited the country on countless occasions. It is likely that he first visited the country during his four-year spell on Hoghton Tower (1890-94). His period on ships in the Welsh Shire Line a few years later would also have taken him around the Cape and possibly involved visits to Cape Town.
In 1899 he joined the Castle Line which carried passengers and the mail to South Africa on a regular basis. (Castle had a semi-exclusive government contract to carry mail to South Africa and later merged with the Union Line to form the mighty Union Castle Line.) Shackleton co-authored a book (OHMS) about carrying troops to the Anglo-Boer War and was due to meet his brother Frank Shackleton who was serving with the army. But Frank was wounded and taken home before he arrived. At one point, he met Rudyard Kipling, probably in Cape Town.
During one of these long voyages he met Lt Cedric Longstaff, whose father bankrolled the Discovery expedition. Longstaff Snr later persuaded Clements Markham to appoint Shackleton to the Discovery expedition. Discovery called at Cape Town in 1901 on the way south.
Nimrod also called at Cape Town on the voyage south in 1907, though Shackleton was not on board.
Shackleton was due to visit Cape Town in 1921 during the voyage south with Quest. He was due to collect important equipment and some parts for the aircraft that Quest was taking south. But delays and Quest’s many problems forced him to cancel the visit and he went instead to Rio. The equipment and aircraft parts were left behind.
I am sure there are other connections with South Africa, but these are some, which spring readily to mind. I hope it is helpful.
All the best,
Michael Smith
Regarding Quest’s bell, my view is that it should have stayed on Quest! If only because the next owner would have had to buy a new one. However, as Quest eventually sank off Newfoundland, it is better in the long run that it survives – if Angie’s people can find it!
A few years ago I was involved in a project to send Quest’s deckhouse to the South Georgia Museum (a long story!) and I collected photos of Quest both on the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition and later when she returned to sealing in the Arctic. I cannot find any sign of the bell in photos of the Shackleton expedition, but I don’t know where the bell was located. It should be somewhere in or around the bridge so that it could strike the watch keeping time. For instance there is no sign of it in the photo below of the interior of the wheelhouse taken in London before the expedition.
On the other hand, I have a couple of photos showing the new bell in the wheelhouse after Quest returned to the Arctic. The picture below was taken in 1930 when Quest was chartered by Gino Watkins’ British Arctic Air Route Expedition in east Greenland. The bell can be seen in the middle window above the E of QUEST.
It’s a shame Quest sank in 1962. If it had survived for a few more years it is possible there would have been efforts to preserve a vessel that had a longer history of polar service than any other, including use in several expeditions, rescue missions and even war service.
Regards
Bob Burton
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