William Lashly's Legacy

Shortly after his death in 1940, the Geographical Journal, the official journal of the Royal Geographical Society, carried an obituary of William. It concluded:

“Men such as Lashly are rare. The keynotes of his character were honesty, loyalty, and simplicity. He was too modest to realize how far the strength both of leader and expedition depended upon the presence among the rank and file of men like himself and his comrades of the mess deck”.

William is remembered in the village of Hambledon by the home development project named Lashly Meadow. Also the house he had built for his retirement called Minna Bluff after a rocky outcrop that juts out from Mount Discovery and which marks the route to and from the South Pole. In Cardiff, a memorial plaque has been placed on the house where he lived for many years.

William left behind a number of items now housed at the Scott Polar Research Institute. Most significant are his two polar diaries and a small collection of letters. His mittens used on the expeditions can also be found there. The Dundee Heritage Centre has William’s kit bag. Further afield, in Canterbury New Zealand, is his travel sewing kit.

In Antarctica, a small group of mountains is named after him. They were discovered during William’s first visit to Antarctica and named by Captain Scott. The location of the mountains is latitude 77° 54' 00 S, longitude 159° 33' 00 E. They are a rich source of geological specimens and fossils and Antarctic researchers often refer in their newsletters to ‘The Lashlys’ as casually as William might have spoken of the ‘Downs’ when growing up in Hambledon. He was as dedicated as any member of Scott’s teams to the collection and preservation of specimens, even during the demanding final returning party journey with Crean and Evans, so would no doubt be pleased that the mountains which bear his name are revealing so much about the naturehistory of the Antarctic.

There is also a nearby Lashly Glacier at latitude 77° 57' 00 S, longitude 159° 50' 00 E, named after William by the New Zealand Party of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1956-58).

Medals

Like many who served in the Navy, and particularly in battle situations, William was awarded a number of medals. Among them was the Africa General Service Medal for his role on HMS Proserpine.

For his contribution to research in the Antarctic in Scott’s first expedition he received a bronze Polar Medal to which was added an “Antarctic 1912-14” clasp on his return from the Terra Nova expedition. On July 26th 1913 William, along with Tom Crean, went to Buckingham Palace to meet King George V and to receive the Albert Medal for saving the life of Lieutenant Evans, an event reported on the front page of The London Gazette.

Perhaps the most bizarre memorial, and one which must have brought a smile to William’s eyes, is the worm which now bears his name. A study of parasitic worms found in the coastal wildlife of Antarctica was the special project of Edward Atkinson, the surgeon on Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition who led the dog team to find William and the desperately sick Lieutenant Evans at the end of their return from the Polar journey. The worm, Dibothriocephalus lashleyi (or Diphyllobothrium lashleyi) was recovered from a Weddell seal and, following his usual practice, Surgeon Atkinson named it after one of his colleagues, on this occasion choosing William Lashly.

Next: William's Albert Medal