William's Cardiff Connection

The Expedition's link with Cardiff

Before the decision was made to appoint Captain Scott as leader of a second expedition to the Antarctic, Edward Evans, who sailed on the relief ship the Morning for the 1901 National Expedition, was making plans for his own expedition based on Cardiff. He developed a strong relationship with the city through family links and won the support of the editor of the Western Mail. When he agreed to give up his own plans and become Scott’s second-in-command, he made full use of his Cardiff contacts. As a result, more money was raised for the expedition in Cardiff than in any other British city. In a show of gratitude to the people of South Wales for their generosity, the expedition used Cardiff Docks as their final port of call in the UK.

The Terra Nova arrived in Cardiff five days before its planned departure date to finish preparations for the voyage and to take on fuel. Coal, engine and lamp oil, cooking utensils and even Scott's sleeping bag were provided by Welsh supporters and companies. Expedition members were invited to stay in local homes and functions and dinners, one of which is still celebrated every year by the Captain Scott Society, were held to bid the expedition farewell. The ship was opened up to visitors and many people paid to go on board. They finally set sail on June 15th 1910, cheered by thousands as they left the docks, and William was on his way to visit the Antarctic for the second time.

As a further thank you to the people of Wales Captain Scott promised that Cardiff would be the first British port the Terra Nova would visit on its return. Although Captain Scott died on the expedition the promise was kept and three years later it was Bute Dock and the people of Cardiff, rather than London or Portsmouth, that welcomed home the Terra Nova.

So, on June 14th 1913 William, after a largely uneventful return journey, found himself back in Cardiff where, like all the expedition’s members, he received a warm hero’s welcome. The Terra Nova remained there longer than was anticipated and William took on the official role of shipkeeper for the many weeks it took for the ship to be fitted out for its return to whaling in the Arctic.

In July William and Tom Crean were present at a lecture given by Lieutenant Evans to the Cardiff Naturalist Society at which they received public recognition for their bravery and skill in saving his life. They also travelled to Buckingham Palace to receive the award of the Albert Medal and visited the Royal Naval College at Osborne with Lieutenant Evans where their lectures were apparently received with “wild enthusiasm”.

William was due to retire from the Navy later in the year and was offered a job as a surveyor’s ‘tapeholder’ with the Marine Survey Staff of the Board of Trade in Cardiff. William also signed up to the Royal Fleet Reserve at Portsmouth. When, within a few months, England was at war, William (aged 47) was back in training on HMS Victory II, before joining the battleship HMS Irresistible on September 1st.

After his demobilization on February 10th 1919 William returned to Cardiff and his job with the Board of Trade. He and Alice settled there living at 17 Mayfield Avenue where a commemorative plaque was placed in 2019.

He retained his interest in Antarctic matters and met up from time to time with old friends. He visited Apsley Cherry-Garrard at his family estate in Herefordshire and met him and others at the annual reunion at the Café Royal. When Cherry–Garrard eventually set about writing his account of Scott’s last expedition, William sent him expanded copies of his field notes and also wrote to him from time to time.

According to Commander Ellis, editor of William’s Antarctic diaries, in those Cardiff years “his interest never flagged. Fit and alert as ever, he was constantly in demand with his slides and magic lanterns for the Antarctic lecture”.

He attended lectures on Antarctic themes by Frank Wild and Captain Evans at the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society and spoke himself to the Junior Section on the topic “Southward with Scott”. In 1926, William met up with Tom Crean in Portsmouth where they were principal guests at a celebration of the appointment of Teddy Evans as Captain of the battleship HMS Repulse.

William travelled to Cambridge to visit the newly established Scott Polar Research Institute and visited Gestingthorpe Hall to stay with Captain Oates’ mother and was remembered for many years in the Cardiff area for the lantern slide lectures he gave.

In 1932 William, aged 65, retired from his job with the Board of Trade. His colleagues gave him a handmade certificate of retirement, now held at the Dundee Heritage Site. He returned with Alice and their daughter to his home village of Hambledon to live in the house which had been built for him and which he called Minna Bluff

Next: William's Antarctic Diaries