Autographs from Captain Scott’s 1910 Antarctic Expedition. 12 November 2010 The Terra Nova loading in Bute East Dock, Cardiff, June 1910 Scott’s 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition Scott’s 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition captured the imagination of the British public, most especially when the expedition ship, the Terra Nova, returned to Cardiff from the South without Scott and four of his companions. The autographs of the expedition members were much sought after. In the collections of Amgueddfa Cymru there are three items, two dating from the start of the expedition and one from the end, together bearing the signatures of 27 of the officers, scientists and crew of Scott’s expedition. Amongst them are the signatures of Scott, Wilson, Bowers and Oates who died on the return march from the South Pole. Notably absent on the documents from the start of the expedition is the signature of Welshman Edgar Evans from Rhossili on Gower who was the first to die on the return from the South Pole; he was merely a Petty Officer. Sailing towards Antarctica, June 1910 Setting off from Cardiff Accompanying a photograph of the Terra Nova and the ship’s and other officers are the signatures of: E. L. Atkinson Surgeon Edward Leicester Atkinson, RN (1881-1929). Main Party Surgeon and parasitologist. Atkinson led the search party which found the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers in November 1912. W. W. Archer W.W. Archer, RN (Retired). Chief Steward, Shore Party. G. Murray Levick Surgeon George Murray Levick, RN (1877-1956). Surgeon on the Northern Party of the expedition, surviving for seven months through the winter in an ice cave. He studied the Adélie Penguin colony at Cape Adare and later wrote a book on Antarctic penguins. L. E. G. Oates Captain Lawrence Edward Grace Oates (1880-1912), 6th Inniskilling Dragoons. Weakened by severely frostbitten feet, Oates died on the return march from the South Pole, on 16 March 1912 when he famously told his companions Scott, Wilson and Bowers, “I am just going outside and may be some time” as left the tent and crawled out into the blizzard. E. R. G. R. Evans Lieutenant Edward (Teddy) Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, RN (1881-1957). Second-in-Command. Evans was instrumental in garnering Welsh support and sponsorship for the expedition and took over command of the expedition after Scott died. R. Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO, RN (1868-1912). Expedition Leader. Scott had led the 1901-04 Discovery Expedition and returned to lead the Terra Nova Expedition. He reached the South Pole on 16 January 1912 with Wilson, Bowers, Oates and Edgar Evans. All five died on the return journey. The Terra Nova Sails towards Antarctica Letter dated June 17th 1910, At Sea, from Teddy Evans to P. Lowry Rusden of The Mercantile Pontoon Co Ltd, Roath Dock, Cardiff on British Antarctic Expedition headed paper: "... We had a fine breeze early yesterday & have been sailing over 8 knots ever since. I don’t think any of us will forget Cardiff. Sailing towards Antarctica, June 1910 Signatures of Edward R. G. R. Evans Lieutenant Edward (Teddy) Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, RN (1881-1957). Second-in-Command. With Welsh support and sponsorship, Evans had been planning his own Antarctic expedition when he heard about Scott’s plans. He later had a distinguished naval career and was created Lord Mountevens in 1946. D. G. Lillie Dennis G. Lillie MA. Ship’s Party Biologist Victor Campbell Lieutenant Victor Lindsey Arbuthnot Campbell, RN (1875-1956). Leader of the Northern Party, initially based at Cape Adare in Victoria Land. The six men of the Northern party were later stranded farther south along the coast and survived seven months of winter in an ice cave with little food and only their summer clothing. Apsley Cherry-Garrard Apsley George Benet Cherry-Garrard BA (1886-1959). Assistant Zoologist. Cherry-Garrard paid £1000 to join the Expedition. With Wilson and Bowers he made a winter journey to collect Emperor Penguin eggs which he later described in his book, The worst journey in the world. He was a member of the search party which found the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers in November 1912. H. Rennick Lieutenant Henry E. de P. Rennick, RN. First Officer on the Terra Nova. E. W. Nelson Edward W Nelson (1883-1923). Biologist, Shore Party. Edward A. Wilson Dr Edward Adrian Wilson (1872-1912). Chief Scientist and Zoologist, Shore Party. Wilson had been with Scott on the 1901-4 Discovery Expedition. A skilled and talented artist and zoologist, Wilson was a close friend of Scott. He died with Scott and Bowers in their tent on the Ross Ice Shelf on their return from the South Pole in March 1912. E. L. Atkinson Surgeon Edward Leicester Atkinson, RN (1881-1929). Main Party Surgeon and parasitologist. Atkinson led the search party which found the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers in November 1912. H. R. Bowers Lieutenant Henry Robertson Bowers, Royal Indian Marines (1883-1912). Scott put Bowers in charge of stores. He was a member of the final Polar Party and died with Scott and Wilson in their tent on the Ross Ice Shelf in March 1912 on the return march from the South Pole. The Return to Cardiff, 1913 The Return to Cardiff Signatures of officers and crew of RYS Terra Nova on their return to Cardiff June 14/13 (Saturday). New Zealand One Penny stamp, overprinted “Victoria Land” and franked “British Antarctic Expedition Ja 18 [19]13”. The signatures on this sheet are of interest because although they include four of the officers and scientists, the signatures are mostly those of the lower ranks, indicating that all of the crew were regarded as celebrities upon the expedition’s return. W. W. Archer W Archer, RN (Retired). Chief Steward, Shore Party. A. Cherry-Garrard Apsley Cherry-Garrard Assistant Zoologist. E. W. Nelson Edward W Nelson. Biologist. E. L. Atkinson Surgeon Edward L Atkinson RN. Main Party Surgeon and parasitologist. Wm W. Williams C.E.R.A. 2nd Class William W. Williams, RN. Chief Engineer, Ship’s Party. W. A. Horton E.R.A. 3rd Class William A. Horton, RN. Second Engineer, Ship’s Party. T. S. Williamson Petty Officer 1st Class Thomas S. Williamson, RN. Shore Party. He had served with Scott on the 1901-4 Discovery Expedition. He was a member of the search party which found the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers in November 1912. H. Dickason Able Seaman Harry Dickason, RN. Northern Party. A. Balson Leading Seaman Albert Balson, R.N. Ship’s Party. W. H. Neale Steward W.H. Neale. Ship’s Party. F. Parsons Petty Officer 1st Class Frederick Parsons, RN. Ship’s Party. Victor Campbell Lieutenant Victor Lindsey Arbuthnot Campbell, RN (1875-1956). Leader of the Northern Party. Mortimer McCarthy Able Seaman Mortimer McCarthy. Ship’s Party. Wm L. Heald Petty Officer 1st Class William L. Heald, RN (Retired). Ship’s Party. He had served with Scott on the 1901-4 Discovery Expedition. W. Lashly Chief Stoker William Lashly, RN (1867-1940). Shore Party. He served with Scott on the 1901-4 Discovery Expedition. He was a member of the search party which found the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers in November 1912. After the First World War, Lashly settled in Cardiff, working as a customs officer until 1932 when he retired to Hampshire. H. Pennell Lieutenant Harry Lewin Lee Pennell, RN (1882-1916). Ship’s Party, Navigator. F. E. Davies Leading Shipwright Francis E.C. Davies, RN. Carpenter, Ship’s Party. A. S. Bailey Petty Officer 2nd Class Arthur S. Bailey, RN. Ship’s Party J. Lees Able Seaman Joseph Lees, RN. Ship’s Party.
The Welsh in Antarctica 29 October 2010 Royal Research Ship Discovery II in loose pack ice, Bouvet Island, Southern Ocean, 1926. One of the most poignant Welsh stories from Scott's 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition is that of Petty Officer Edgar Evans from Rhossili in Gower, one of the team of five who made it to the South Pole with Scott himself. Evans was the first to die on the return march from the South Pole. Here we explore other Welsh links with Antarctica — a geologist from St Fagans, and the Antarctic work of a zoologist from St Brides Major who later became Director of the National Museum. Edgeworth David (standing), aged about 7, with his sister Ethel (left) and two brothers (Edmund and Arthur), photographed in Cardiff in about 1865. Sir Tannat William Edgeworth David (1858-1934) by Norman Carter. © Estate of Norman Carter. Dilwyn John's Polar Medal. A Welsh Geologist at the South Magnetic Pole The geologist T.W. Edgeworth David was born in 1858 in St Fagans where his father was rector. He studied glacial deposits in south Wales before moving to Australia in 1882 to join the Geological Survey of New South Wales. In 1891 he was appointed Professor of Geology at the University of Sydney. He became one of Australia's most famous scientists. David joined Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod expedition in 1907. In March 1908, aged 50, he led the first ascent of Mount Erebus, an active volcano on Ross Island. With Douglas Mawson and Alistair Mackay, in January 1909, he was the first to reach the region of the South Magnetic Pole. His journey of 2,028 kilometres took 122 days and is one of the longest unsupported man-hauled sledging journeys ever undertaken. He persuaded the Australian government to contribute towards Scott's 1910 expedition and helped him appoint geologists from among his students. He was awarded the Polar Medal in 1910 and an honorary degree by the University of Wales in 1921. Dilwyn John and the Discovery Investigations Scott's first Antarctic ship, Discovery, returned to the continent in 1925 in the first of a series of scientific research cruises in the Southern Ocean to study the biology of the Southern Ocean and the effects of commercial whaling on the whale populations. This research, known as the Discovery Investigations, continued until 1951. David Dilwyn John (1901-95), from St Bride's Major in Glamorgan, was a zoologist who participated in three of these cruises between 1925 and 1935. The first, on Discovery, between 1925 and 1927, worked in the seas around South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. He then spent two years on RRS William Scoresby on a whale marking expedition around South Georgia. In 1931-33, he was Chief Scientist on Discovery II on the first winter circumnavigation of Antarctica. In 1935 John joined the staff of the British Museum (Natural History) as Assistant Keeper of Zoology. He left in 1948 to become Director of the National Museum of Wales, a post he held until 1968. He was awarded the Polar Medal in 1941. Dilwyn John on his retirement as Director of the National Museum of Wales in 1968. Dilwyn John (on right) on John Peaks (415 metres), named after him on Powell Island, South Orkney Islands, 1933.
The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company 23 July 2010 Ebbw Vale Open Hearth Furnaces, 1960s. The early iron industry of South Wales was small scale and rural; blast furnaces at Clydach Ironworks, 1813. Sir Henry Bessemer paid the Ebbw Vale Company £30,000 for their patents on steel making (George Parry received £10,000) and in 1866-68 the company erected six Bessemer Converters to make steel, one of the first two installations in Britain. A Bessemer converter "on the blow" is a dramatic sight. The process had not changed at Ebbw Vale in the 1950s when this photograph was taken. The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company was based in south Wales. Founded in 1790, it was the largest tinplate producer in the country, until its closure in 2002. In the Edwardian period it employed 34,000 men, and by the mid-nineteenth century it was at the forefront of technological development, especially in the conversion of iron to steel. It gained further British technological firsts after a complete rebuild in 1936-8 and went on to outlast all the other Heads of the Valleys iron and steel plants. Beginnings Ebbw Vale Ironworks was part of a chain of works along the northern rim of the south Wales coalfield where the raw materials for making iron - iron ore, coal and limestone - occurred together. It was established in 1790 by a partnership led by Jeremiah Homfray, owner of the Penydarren Ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil. In 1796 he sold the works to the Harford family who ran it for the next half a century, building three more blast furnaces, puddling furnaces to produce wrought iron and rolling mills to make rails. The Harfords also bought the three blast furnaces at Sirhowy in 1818, to increase their supplies of pig iron for the furnaces and mills. Expansion The Harfords went bankrupt in 1842 when their overseas investments collapsed. Their works were kept going by trustees and in 1844 Abraham Derby IV, the Coalbrookdale ironmaster, came out of semi-retirement to form the Ebbw Vale Company. The company rapidly expanded, buying the neighbouring Victoria Ironworks in 1848, Abersychan Ironworks in 1852, Pentwyn Ironworks in 1858 and Pontypool Ironworks in 1872. When the local iron ores became exhausted the company bought iron mines in Somerset, Gloucestershire and Spain during the 1850s. In 1854-5 George Parry, the works chemist, experimented with steel making but it was not until 1868, when the company installed a Bessemer plant, that regular steel production began. The cost of expansion The company was reformed as the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company Limited in 1868. The cost of continued expansion in the boom of the early 1870s crippled the company in the depression that came later in the decade. Iron trade declined as steel superseded iron - fortunately the Ebbw Vale Company had been an early innovator in steel production. From 1873 the company was controlled by Manchester financiers, who did not seem to understand the iron and steel trade. The works declined; Pentwyn closed in 1868, Sirhowy and Abersychan closed in 1882-3, Pontypool in 1890 and by 1892 the concern was almost bankrupt, with the plant described as obsolete and the machinery in disrepair. Changing direction — the insatiable demand for Welsh Coal From the 1870s onwards the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company's prosperity lay in coal rather than iron and steel. In 1873 it was already the largest coal producer in south Wales, but the bulk of its coal was being used in the coke ovens and the steam engines of the ironworks. In the 1870s and 1880s the company switched direction to take advantage of the spectacular growth in demand for Welsh steam coal to drive the world's ships, trains and steam engines. As the older collieries in the Ebbw Vale area were becoming exhausted it sank two new collieries - Waunlwyd (1874-7) and Marine Colliery at Cwm (1889-91). Ebbw Vale coal became a familiar sight all over the world. The increasingly insatiable demand for Welsh steam coal during the first two decades of the twentieth century enabled the company to rapidly expand and modernise its collieries. Some of the older collieries were closed and output was doubled at Waunlwyd and Marine. In twenty years the company doubled its output to 2 million tons. More coal meant more miners and the company's workforce rose to nearly 6,000, and profits rose dramatically too. Digging for coal at Llangynidr Road during the 1926 miner's lockout. An air view of the works in August 1957 As Marine Colliery expanded so did the village of Cwm where the bulk of the miners and families lived. Station Terrace, Cwm's first major shopping centre, in 1913. The 750-ton hot metal receiver in the Bessemer Steel Works was the largest in the World when installed in 1905-06. On 30 October 1929 the works were closed. In 1936 they were demolished. Coal mining and its landscape, Waunlwyd, 1950s Modernisation In 1892 control of the company returned to iron and steel interests. The companies finances were consolidated, with expansion and modernisation beginning in 1897. In 1910 a number of south Wales colliery owners led by Viscount Rhondda became directors. In May 1911, under the impression that profits would be increased by concentrating on coal production alone, they closed the iron and steel works. However, their hopes were not fulfilled and those works reopened in April 1912. The last act of expansion before the First World War was the construction of sheet mills in 1912. Between 1918 and 1920 the company increased its capital from £1.8 million to £7.7 million and embarked on further expansion. Two modern blast furnaces built at Victoria in 1920-23 replaced the four old Ebbw Vale blast furnaces. Plants were installed to produce steel railway sleepers and weldless tubes and couplings. However, the international iron and steel trade slumped in the early 1920s. Troubled times The golden age of the early twentieth century was shattered from the 1920s onwards. The boom in the coal export market collapsed as ships switched to oil for fuel. After 1922 the company's high profits turned into big losses. Closure The 1920s and 1930s were the "Years of the Locust" as wages fell, collieries closed and unemployment rocketed. There were bitter and long industrial disputes in 1921 and 1926 and the financial crisis of 1929 affected the Ebbw Vale company badly. Its works closed, putting almost half the town's population out of work. In 1935 the company went into liquidation and all its collieries were sold to Partridge Jones and John Paton Ltd, the largest colliery owner in the Gwent valleys. Rebuilding To remain internationally competitive, Britain's tinplate industry required an American-style steel stripmill. A new stripmill was planned in Lincolnshire but Government intervention caused it to be relocated to Ebbw Vale, and in 1936-8 the old works was cleared and an integrated iron, steel and tinplate plant built. The former collieries of the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company were taken over by the National Coal Board when the whole industry was nationalised in 1947. In that year, three were still in production — Waunlwyd, Cwmcarn and Marine. They were closed in 1964, 1968 and 1988 respectively. Up to the present The first electrolytic line outside the USA was built at Ebbw Vale in 1947-8. The Bessemer and open hearth steel plants were expanded and in 1960 Britain's first LD converter was installed at the works. Such plant was soon to supersede all Bessemer and open hearth steel plants in the UK. Two further electrolytic tinning lines were installed in 1961 and 1969, with galvanising lines added in 1957 and 1969. Rationalisation in the steel industry following nationalisation in 1967 led to the steel plant at Ebbw Vale closing in 1978. Until closure in 2002 the works concentrated on tinplating and galvanising, and was the largest tinplate producer in Britain.
Fuelling Antarctic exploration: The Crown Patent Fuel Company in Cardiff Jennifer Protheroe-Jones, 23 July 2010 A block of Crown Patent Fuel. Age of Polar ExpeditionsThe early 20th century was a time of great heroic explorations to the Antarctic continent. Crown Patent Fuel from south Wales was the fuel of choice for these Antarctic expeditions.Crown Patent FuelIn addition to 100 tons of steam coal from south Wales coal companies, Captain Scott's 1910 British Antarctic Expedition was also given 300 tons of fuel blocks by Cardiff's Crown Patent Fuel Company. This, along with other sponsorship from Cardiff and south Wales, persuaded Scott to designate Cardiff the home port of his ship, the Terra Nova. He sent the Terra Nova to load fuel in Cardiff rather than have it sent by rail to London.The Crown Patent Fuel works were situated alongside the Glamorganshire Canal at Maendy. The works was one of a number along the canal and, together with a number of works at other south Wales ports, made the region the largest producer of patent fuel in the world. Most of the patent fuel was exported, with France being a major customer.Scott commends Welsh coalThe fuel was made by mixing and heating waste small coal with pitch, the residue from distilled coal tar, and ramming the mixture into moulds. Various size blocks were produced, ranging from 7lbs to 56 lbs, with 28lbs being the most common — and the size taken on Scott's expedition. The blocks stacked well and took up less space than coal.When the expedition reached their base at Cape Evans on Ross Island in Antarctica, the fuel blocks were used to build a back wall to the stables for the expedition ponies.Earlier expeditionsIn 1901 the Discovery, Captain Scott's first Antarctic expedition ship, took on 200 tons of Patent Fuel in Cardiff. The Aurora, the ship of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911-14), was also in Cardiff taking on Crown Patent Fuel on 4 August 1911 before sailing for Australia and Antarctica.
The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company 20 July 2010 The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company was based in south Wales. Founded in 1790, it was the largest tinplate producer in the country, until its closure in 2002. Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Co. The Double Reduction Mill installed in 1978 produced very thin strip steel for making drinks cans Demolition of the blast furnaces, August 1978. The no 2 electrolytic tinplating line was the fastest in the world when installed in 1961. An air view of the works in August 1957 Fettling an open hearth steel furnace at Ebbw Vale in about 1962. Abercarn Colliery site in the 1970's Underground timbering competition at Cwm Betterment Society Carnival 1956 Coal mining and its landscape, Waunlwyd, 1950s The new works started production in 1938 and prosperity returned to the town of Ebbw Vale. The new stripmill produced high quality strip steel at 20 miles per hour & far faster than the hand rolling mills it replaced. On 30 October 1929 the works were closed. In 1936 they were demolished. In 1929 a new 1,500 ton hot metal receiver, then the largest in the world, was installed. The works were due to close before it could be used. Ebbw Vale's inland location necessitated a huge fleet of railway trucks to haul iron ore from the Newport wharves to the furnaces The Roughing Mill at the Steel Works. The depressed state of the steel trade between the wars has been described as "like entering a tunnel and not emerging until 1938". The new Nos. 4 and 5 blast furnaces at Victoria produced 2,750 tons a week each. On St David's day 1927, 52 miners at Marine Colliery were killed in an explosion. The cause of the disaster was never ascertained. On St David's day 1927, 52 miners at Marine Colliery were killed in an explosion. The cause of the disaster was never ascertained. During the industrial disputes of the 1920s and the depression of the 1930s jazz bands provided fun and just as important, kept up spirits. Digging for coal at Llangynidr Road during the 1926 miner's lockout. As Marine Colliery expanded so did the village of Cwm where the bulk of the miners and families lived. Station Terrace, Cwm's first major shopping centre, in 1913. The Prince of Wales during his visit to Victoria No 5 pit in 1918. The colliery had recently been deepened and modernised. After he had been underground he agreed to the colliery being renamed 'Prince of Wales'. Marine Colliery, 1907: Coke for the furnaces, but the bulk of its coal was exported overseas. Pride and achievement: Pit Bottom. Marine Colliery, Cwm, c.1907. In 1907 the company built a third brickworks and production reached 14 million a year. The company owned four wharves at Newport to import iron ore and pit props and to export iron and steel By 1907 the company employed 350 maintenance and engineering staff: The Smith Shop in the Engineering Department. Victoria Foundry, rebuilt in 1902, produced 18,000 tons of castings a year, used both within the works and sold to other firms. In 1907 the company owned 524 coke ovens and was producing 200,000 tons of coke a year. The tapping hole of the "Yankee" furnace at Victoria, it could produce 2,300 tons of iron a week. Ten hours output of steel billets from the Bessemer Steel Works. The 750-ton hot metal receiver in the Bessemer Steel Works was the largest in the World when installed in 1905-06. A new American design blast furnace was built at Victoria in 1903. Two open-hearth steel furnaces were built in 1898, followed by a further three in 1905-06. In 1897 a spring making shop was built to make railway carriage springs. The export market was the mainstay of the company. Cardiff Docks, early twentieth century The export market was the mainstay of the company. Cardiff Docks, early twentieth century The new pits sunk from the 1870s onwards were much deeper than the older collieries so that they could reach new reserves and the steam coal seams. The shaft of Victoria No. 5 (Prince of Wales) Colliery. Waunlwyd Colliery. At the turn of the century two trainloads of coal from this colliery went to Crewe everyday to power the locomotives of the L.M.S. The rolling mills about 1900. A Bessemer converter "on the blow" is a dramatic sight. The process had not changed at Ebbw Vale in the 1950s when this photograph was taken. One of the works' main products was rails; steel replaced wrought iron in the 1870s and in 1881 wrought iron puddling ceased at Ebbw Vale. The Bessemer steel converters kept the works going through the 1880s. The last act of expansion was the rebuilding of the two Victoria Furnaces in 1882. The four furnaces of Ebbw Vale were rebuilt in 1871-72, increasing production to 800 tons per week per furnace In 1866 the "Darby" blast furnace blowing engine was installed, the largest in the world. Sir Henry Bessemer paid the Ebbw Vale Company £30,000 for their patents on steel making (George Parry received £10,000) and in 1866-68 the company erected six Bessemer Converters to make steel, one of the first two installations in Britain. One of George Parry, the works chemist, inventions was the "cap and cone" to close the top of the blast furnace to retain heat. It was briefly lowered during charging. Much of the company's pig iron production was converted to wrought iron in 100 puddling furnaces. Abersychan Ironworks shown here in 1866 was bought by the Ebbw Vale Company in 1852. The company's other works probably resembled it, although their buildings were not as ornate. Ebbw Vale experimented with locomotives from 1829 and was one of the first South Wales ironworks to do so. This is the Tredegar Iron Company's locomotive 'St David' in 1854. The Ebbw Vale Company built many rows of homes for its workers, Gantra Row, intended for colliers, accommodated one family in the upper two floors of each house and another in the basement. No. 6 pit, Victoria, sank in 1838 provided coke for the Victoria Ironworks. Women were prohibited from working underground in 1842 but a small number continued to work on the surface until the early twentieth century. The earliest coal and ironstone mines were "patches" or small opencast pits. The early iron industry of South Wales was small scale and rural; blast furnaces at Clydach Ironworks, 1813. Holing in the Gwern Y Cae Seam, Sirhowy No. 7 Pit, 1898. Ebbw Vale Open Hearth Furnaces, 1960s.
