Robert Falcon Scott

Short Biography

English explorer who commanded two Antarctic expeditions, 1901-04 and 1910-12. Born to John and Hannah Scott. Born into a naval family he became a cadet at the age of 13 and entered the navy in 1882. He married famous English sculptor, Kathleen Bruce in 1908. His son Peter was born in 1909. In 1910 he set for antarctica on the ship Terra Nova. With Scott on the final expedition were Edward Wilson (1872-1912), Laurence Oates, H R Bowers, and E Evans. The Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge was founded in 1920 out of funds donated by the public following Scott's death, as a memorial to him and his companions. It houses a small museum and library, and carries out research into all aspects of the Antarctic and Arctic regions. On 18 January 1912 he reached the South Pole, shortly after the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, but on the return journey he and his companions died in a blizzard only a few miles from their base camp. His journal was recovered and published in 1913.