Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton KCVO (1874 – 1922)
Having built his career as a professional seaman, Shackleton joined Captain Scott’s Discovery Expedition in 1901; the best equipped Antarctic expedition of the age. On November 2nd, 1902, Ernest Shackleton, Captain Scott and Edward Wilson set off on a journey that, at the time, was the southern-most trek achieved by any explorer. They had travelled 300 miles further south than anyone before them and were only 480 miles from the South Pole. Shackleton fell seriously ill with scurvy, coughing blood and suffering fainting spells and unable to pull the sledge. Scott and Wilson, themselves suffering, struggled onward. After 93 days and covering a distance of 960 miles, they returned to HMS Discovery in February 1903. The following month Captain Scott invalided Shackleton home but in time, he was to lead three of his own expeditions to the Antarctic.