Admiral Crawford Conybeare (British, 1854-1937)

Five watercolours sketched during the British Arctic Expedition from 1875-1876 comprising:
19.5 x 25.5cm (7 3/4 x 10in) and smaller. (5)

Footnotes

The British Arctic Expedition was jointly sponsored by the Royal Navy and the Royal Geographical Society and was the last of the great British expeditions to the Arctic. It was commanded by Sir George Nares in the Discovery, with Albert Markham in the Alert as his second in command; it being Markham who led the sledge party that attempted to reach the North Pole, and established the record of the Farthest North, Latitude 83°20'26" N, a record that was to stand for two decades until broken by Nansen in 1895. The expedition was also of importance in that it helped lay to rest the theory of an Open Polar Sea around the North Pole.

For a modern perspective of the British Arctic Expedition, see Andrew Gordon: 'The project was a heroic, hopeless attempt on the North Pole, sponsored jointly by the Royal Geographical Society, of which Clements Markham was now secretary, and by the Admiralty. The expedition "epitomized both the best features of British exploration and the worst". It nearly became a classic British disaster from a failure to learn the dietary lessons of previous expeditions, and from the early escape or death, due to incompetence, of the dogs that were to have pulled the sledges. Undaunted, Albert Markham, gave it his best shot; and his men stolidly hauled their heavy loads northwards and progressively fell victim to scurvy. They were away for ten weeks. Their provisions were medieval, and although there was ample lime juice onboard the ships, the labour and fuel involved in thawing it out every day had persuaded Markham to leave it behind. When they got within 400 miles of the Pole (a record which stood for twenty years) he planted the flag in the snow, sang The Union Jack of Old England, and started the long stumbling journey back. They endured appalling privations, were reduced to crawling on hands and knees, and were lucky only one of their number died... The expedition left two dangerous legacies for future British polar endeavour: a distrust of dogs; and a romanticization of the camaraderie, as Clements Markham saw it, of muscle-power' (The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command, 2013, p. 209).

Admiral Crawford Conybeare served in the Royal Navy from 1868-1891 and was a midshipman during the expedition.