Edward Adrian Wilson
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| Edward Adrian Wilson | |
 Edward Adrian Wilson
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| Born | 23 July 1872 Montpellier Terrace, Cheltenham |
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| Died | 29 March 1912 (aged 39) South Pole |
| Education | Cheltenham College |
| Occupation | Explorer |
Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson ("Uncle Bill") (July 23, 1872 – March 29, 1912) was a notable English polar explorer, physician, naturalist, painter and ornithologist.
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[edit] Early life
He was born in Montpellier Terrace, Cheltenham on 23 July 1872. His father, also Edward, was a doctor. He spent much of his youth at the Crippetts farm, Leckhampton near Cheltenham. Wilson attended Cheltenham College and went from there to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge where he read zoology before qualifying in medicine at St George's Hospital Medical School, London. In 1898, shortly after he qualified as a doctor, Wilson became ill with tuberculosis from his mission work in London slums. It was during the long convalescence from this illness that he practiced and developed his skills as an artist.
[edit] Antarctica
Wilson took part in two British expeditions to Antarctica, the British National Antarctic Expedition (Discovery Expedition) and the Terra Nova Expedition, both under Robert Falcon Scott. On the first, from 1901 to 1904, Wilson acted as Junior Surgeon and Zoologist. During this expedition, Wilson joined Scott and Ernest Shackleton in a journey that, at the time, was the southern-most trek achieved by any explorer, taking them to a latitude of 82°17'S, approximately 500 miles from the Pole. On his return, Shackleton asked Wilson to join his Nimrod expedition to Antarctica in 1907, but partly out of loyalty to Scott, he declined.
[edit] Terra Nova Expedition
In 1910 Wilson set sail on the Terra Nova, as Chief of the Scientific Staff of Scott's final expedition. In the winter of 1911 he led "The Winter Journey", a journey with Henry Robertson Bowers and Apsley Cherry-Garrard, to Cape Crozier to collect Emperor penguin embryos. Cherry-Garrard later described this expedition in his memoir, The Worst Journey in the World.
He was one of the party of five men that reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912, only to find the pole had been claimed by Amundsen just one month before. All five died during the return journey which created a national mourning the like of which has rarely been seen since.
By all accounts, Wilson was probably Scott's closest comrade of the expedition. Scott wrote "Words must always fail me when I talk of Bill Wilson. I believe he really is the finest character I ever met." When Scott's final camp was discovered by a search team in November 1912, Bowers and Wilson were found frozen in their sleeping bags. Scott's bag was open and his body partially out of his bag - his left arm was extended around Wilson.
At Gonville and Caius College the college's flag which Wilson took to the South Pole is preserved.
[edit] Memorials
His statue on the Promenade in Cheltenham, modelled by Scott's widow Kathleen, was unveiled on 9 July 1914 by Arctic explorer Sir Clements Markham. There is a small standing exhibition commemorating him in the town's museum.
The Edward Wilson primary school in Paddington, London is named after him.
The students' cafe at St George's Medical School (SGUL) is named Eddie Wilson's.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Portrait of Edward Wilson in the Cheltenham Town Museum
- Biography of Edward Wilson with a good number of his paintings and drawings
[edit] References
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