William Lashly
William Lashly was born in the Hampshire village of Hambledon on Christmas Day 1867. He left the village school when he was a little over eleven years old and at twenty-one joined the Royal Navy.
By the age of 52 he had served as Stoker on six Naval warships, including HMS Irresistible where he survived when it was mined and sank during the Gallipoli Campaign in the first World War.
William had also sailed on both of Captain Scott’s expeditions to Antarctica, spending five long winters in the Antarctic at temperatures as low as minus forty degrees, sometimes with nothing more than a sleeping bag and a flimsy tent between him and the polar blizzards. On the first expedition in 1901 he saved the life of Captain Scott. On the second, with Tom Crean, he saved the life of Lieutenant Edward Evans, who lived to become Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Navy and eventually Viscount Sir Edward Mountevans.
William was one of the last people to see Captain Scott alive and one of the first from the search party to enter the tent in which Scott and his companions had died on their return from the Pole.
The Website
This site was set up in December 2012 by George and Valerie Skinner based on a family history study and updated to the current version in July 2021.
Valerie is William's first cousin three times removed. Her husband, George, was a researcher and teacher at the University of Manchester for many years and, in retirement, has worked on piecing together what is known about William's life.
The site provides a brief introduction to William with a particular focus on his life as an Antarctic explorer. It begins by looking at his early life and then his professional role as a Stoker in the Royal Navy, before describing his contribution to Captain Scott's two Antarctic expeditions.
The site is best viewed in landscape format. To look at the whole site in sequence please use the Next: option at the bottom of each page. Or you can explore the different sections by using the drop-down "More V" menu at the top of the page.
For a more detailed account, please read the attached pdf of the fully-referenced study William Lashly - A Tribute .