SOUTH GEORGIA MUSEUM - Key Persons
One month before the centenary of the death of Sir Ernest Shackleton I was there with the Hondius. Many of us were in that cruise to watch wildlife, the solar eclipse and explore new lands. My first motivation for the trip was to experience what I learned about Sir Shackleton last March whie watching a documentary. His last journey and a welcoming stay in Rio de Janeiro on the way to SG also played the link to take my city flag to his last call. My deepest respect for all He did and left to us.
In 1963, aged 17, I won a school prize and chose the biggest book offered: ‘South!' It opened my mind to polar exploration, and I dreamed of following that path. Initiating a university expedition to Arctic Norway in 1966, I applied to BAS as a geologist in 1967 - only to discover that they didn't accept women! Frustrated, I read widely and watched every TV program about Antarctica, longing to help protect its environment. In 1999, inspired by the cover photo of ‘Life in the Freezer' I designed the Antarctic Tartan, a symbolic ‘map' incorporating its vivid colours. Thanks to Shackleton's ‘South'!
I have been captivated by the strength (emotional, physical, ethical) demonstrated in Shackleton's many adventures, sharing them vicariously through many published accounts. I boarded what may have been the last boat to depart and return from the White Continent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020).
Bodil Malmose was born and raised in Denmark where her love of exploring and the outdoors was awakened with camping, hiking, and cycling trips around Scandinavia. Bodil also lived in Iceland where her love for the outdoors led her to volunteer work with path maintenance and landscape conservation across the island. Later she moved to Glasgow where she completed an archaeology degree at the University of Glasgow in 2023.
Bodil is passionate about museums and public archaeology. She has volunteered as a guide at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow and as a textile demonstrator at the Scottish Crannog Centre. Bodil also enjoys crafting, particularly spinning and knitting. She can often be found winding down with a crafting project after a long day. She is excited to combine her passions for heritage and the outdoors and to learn more about South Georgia during her time there.
Job Titles:
- Expedition Leader, Exercise Antarctic Endurance
The extraordinary leadership of Shackleton demonstrated throughout the Endurance Expedition (from offering his ship and men to the nation at the outbreak of war to recovering his men from Elephant Island after the loss of his ship and raising the alarm via the James Caird journey) is inspirational. In celebration of his remarkable achievements, I led a Royal Navy expedition sailing a 67-foot yacht into the Weddell Sea, before heading up to South Georgia, past Elephant Island, for a team of sailors and Royal Marines to follow the route taken by Shackleton, Crean and Worsley to Stromness: Antarctic Endurance 2016.
I first met my partner on 5th January. Our first date was to a food place down the beach - near to the port where a boat called the NDURANCE was docked, laying pipes off the coast of Aberdeen, UK. We looked at moving in together and we looked for some pictures to hang in our house. The first one we saw in a shop window was Hurley's one of the Endurance stuck in the ice for £5! Before the birthday of all of our now 3 kids together- Shackleton has appeared in either questions on quiz shows, programmes or documentaries about him. He also appeared in person himself discussing his findings of research on the Endurance Party, right before my partner became seriously ill in hospital… he just appears whenever I need a guide. These are only a few times he's steered me in the right direction. It's almost as if he has some sort of moral compass for us to reference, and inspirational guidance no matter what happens
Job Titles:
- SGHT Director, South Georgia
Deirdre Mitchell is responsible for overseeing SGHT operations on South Georgia, including the operation and management of the Museum. Deirdre studied history and museum studies at the University of St Andrews, before embarking on a curatorial career. This led to her first role at the South Georgia Museum as a Curatorial Intern in 2014-15. This experience sparked Deirdre's fascination with all things South Georgia and Antarctica. For the next seven years she worked as a Naturalist on board expedition ships in the region and subsequently for the British Antarctic Survey at both Rothera and King Edward Point Research Stations.
As a Scot, Deirdre is particularly fascinated by the many Scottish elements of South Georgia's whaling history, and also enjoys being surrounded by the island's incredible wildlife and landscape.
I first went to Antarctica in 2000 and read as much about Shackleton and Scott as I could find. The trip to S Georgia was a highlight in 2017.
Helen Balfour was brought up in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, so is travelling from 60° North to almost 60° South to work in South Georgia. She is following in both her grandfathers' footsteps by making the journey to South Georgia, as they were both employed in the island's whaling trade in the 1950s.
Helen has spent the last 5 years studying for both her honours and master's degree in Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen. Her main interest for both dissertations was based on heritage and museum studies, with a focus on Shetland and the NE of Scotland. She has worked for Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums and the Shetland Museum and Archives. She is also working with the South Georgia Heritage Trust on the current Whalers' Memory Bank Project.
Helen enjoys making things, whether with traditional Shetland material of black oat straw or producing lino prints.
I was lucky enough to spend Christmas 2019 in Grytviken. Christmas Day was a warm, sunny summers day and before tucking into our Christmas lunch we walked to the cemetery to seek out a geocache that a tourist had hidden a year before. We finally found it - a wee dram of Shackleton Whisky! The museum team were very happy to raise a glass to toast ‘the Boss'.
Museum Curator Jayne Pierce grew up with a love of natural history and geology. She graduated from Leicester University with a degree in Geology before completing a master's degree in Micropalaeontology at University College London. After a spate of travelling and working on a gold mine in Western Australia, she returned to the UK to follow a career in museums, first at the Natural History Museum then with UCL Museums & Collections. Jayne spends part of the year at South Georgia and the rest at home in Bath, UK.
Passionate about the great outdoors, Jayne developed an appetite for travelling which led to hiking the Himalayas of Nepal, the Rocky Mountains of Canada, the volcanoes of New Zealand and Bolivia and now working in South Georgia.
Jayne enjoys visiting and exploring all aspects of culture and heritage, from city art galleries and museums, architecture and formal gardens, to post-industrial landscapes and open wild spaces.
Job Titles:
- Previously Resident of South Georgia
In 1961, I went to South Georgia for a year, aged 10, with my parents, as my father (Henry Ruddy) was on his second tour as Customs and Administrative Officer and Magistrate, which he left in 1966. We lived on King Edward Point and regularly visited Shackleton's Cross on our walks; also round to Grytviken and onwards to Gun Hut near Hestersletten; and this photo of me was taken at Shackleton's grave en-route in the brief summer period. At the time I took it all for granted but now I am very proud to have had such an unusual experience and of course I have learned a lot more about the island in the intervening years. I have many letters and memorabilia from my father as well as books about the island which I enjoy reading which have reminded me about my stay, its pleasures and difficulties, and reinforced what an incredible journey Shackleton and his men made.
Job Titles:
- Shackleton 's Cousin, and Historian
Lauren Elliott grew up in the city of Portsmouth, UK, where city life is a vast contrast to the life on South Georgia. Lauren studied a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Ethics and spent the next few years in an operations team opening shop stores across the UK and Ireland before landing her dream job in Antarctica.
Lauren worked at Port Lockroy for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust which sparked her love for the polar regions, from the history to the wildlife, and led on to her working in South Georgia from 2022 for SGHT. Lauren is returning to South Georgia for her second season and is excited to take the knowledge she learned from her museum family last season into this one, whether that is
Liz Adams is the Buyer for the museum gift shop. She is based in England and worked for 22 years as the retail manager and buyer for a major tourist attraction before joining the South Georgia Heritage Trust in 2010. Her main aim is to increase the profitability of the shop and to source unique high quality gifts for our visitors. Liz concentrates on products that are environmentally friendly and produced ethically.
My wife and I first visited South Georgia Island and Shackleton's grave site in 2003, after spending a day at Elephant Island that played such a huge part in Shackleton's leadership role during the months following his ship's disaster. He finally got ALL of his crew back home to safety, after months of seemingly impossible circumstances of weather, food, clothing and equipment needs. Very few expedition leaders of that century of cold area exploration kept everyone alive. We have visited the site four times in the past twenty years and re-read the books about Shackleton's Expedition with sheer wonder every time.
My grandfather, Petter Sørlle, was a whaler. He made the first map of South Orkney Islands 1911-1913, and he also invented the stern slipway for factory ships in 1925.
In 2009, the Royal Navy deployed HMS Manchester toward South Georgia, part of the South Atlantic patrol. Before leaving the Falklands I asked my wife to mail me a book for the boring journey I thought I was undertaking. In all her wisdom she sent a copy of ‘South!' the official account of the Endurance Expedition. During those long seadays, sailors have the option to read, watch movies, hit the gym or sleep during off-watch periods. I picked up the book reluctantly and read it. Within a few hours I was hooked. Upon arrival at Grytviken a few days later, I walked out of the darkness of the ship towards the light that bathed South Georgia's impressive scenery.
Reading that book changed my life. I joined Tim Jarvis in 2012 for Shackleton Epic Expedition, followed by 10 years of research, building and equipping not just one but two replica boats. There have been no boring days ever since! I now work as a polar guide, and share what I have learnt with others.
Job Titles:
- Leader of the Shackleton Epic Expedition
I was asked by Sir Ernest's granddaughter, the Hon Alexandra Shackleton, to lead the expedition team to authentically retrace the survival journey he undertook after the loss of the Endurance. This involved rebuilding a replica James Caird and sailing it from Elephant Island to South Georgia, followed by a climb through the mountains of South Georgia from King Haakon Bay to Stromness whaling station. We did this in 2013 using only period clothing, equipment, food and navigational techniques. I have always been inspired by Shackleton's personality, from his unquenchable optimism, to his determination, crisis leadership and emotional intelligence. 100 years on, his legacy for me is what his leadership teaches us about how to tackle threats like climate change and biodiversity loss. His goal was to save all his men from Antarctica. Ours is to save Antarctica from man.