Douglas Mawson, 1882-1958
Biographical notes

Physicist, acting subsequently as master Nimrod 1907-09
Expedition leader - Aurora 1911-1913


Born on a farm at Shipley, Yorkshire, England in 1882, his mother was originally from the Isle of Man. Educated in Australia.

Organiser and Leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition previously a member of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition of 1907-1909, being one of the party under Professor David which reached the South Magnetic Pole. A graduate in Science and Engineering of Sydney and Adelaide Universities, he had filled for some time the post of Lecturer in Mineralogy and Petrology at the Adelaide University. The only survivor of a party sledging to the east from the Main Base in the summer of 1912-1913.
From Appendix 1, Mawson - Heart of the Antarctic


Antarctica and the Southern Ocean
Mawson resting at Aladdins Cave, the outward journey of the Far Eastern party
Sir Douglas Mawson
Sir Douglas Mawson

1911 Back Percy Correll Cecil Madigan and Frank-Bickerton Front Alfred Hodgeman Sir Douglas Mawson and Morton Moyes
1911 Back Percy Correll Cecil Madigan and Frank-Bickerton Front Alfred Hodgeman Sir Douglas Mawson and Morton Moyes
Alistair McKay, Edgeworth David and Douglas Mawson at the Magnetic South Pole
Alistair McKay, Edgeworth David and Douglas Mawson at the Magnetic South Pole during Shackleton's Nimrod expedition


Landmarks named after Douglas Mawson

Feature Name: Mawson Bank
Feature Type: bar
Latitude: 73°30'S
Longitude: 174°00'E
Description: A bank named for Sir Douglas Mawson.

Feature Name: Cape Mawson
Feature Type: cape
Latitude: 69°59'S
Longitude: 074°40'W
Description: Low, ice-covered cape forming the SE extremity of Charcot Island. First seen from the air and roughly charted by Sir Hubert Wilkins on Dec. 29, 1929, in a flight made around the island. Remapped from air photos taken by USN OpHjp in 1947 by Searle of the FIDS in 1960.

Feature Name: Mawson Peninsula
Feature Type: cape
Elevation: 455
Latitude: 68°35'S
Longitude: 154°11'E
Description:  A high (455 m), narrow, ice-covered peninsula on the W side of Slava Ice Shelf. It extends over 30 mi in a northwesterly direction, terminating in Cape Hudson. Photographed from the air by USN Operation Highjump, 1946-47. Phillip Law of ANARE flew along the peninsula to its northern end in Feb. 1959 and sketched and photographed it.

Feature Name: Mawson Peak
Feature Type: summit
Elevation: 2745
Latitude: 53°06'S
Longitude: 073°31'E
Description:  A peak, 2,745 m, formed by an active volcanic cone at the summit of Big Ben, the mountain dominating the main mass of Heard Island. Surveyed in 1948 by the ANARE.

Feature Name: Mawson Glacier
Feature Type: glacier
Latitude: 76°13'S
Longitude: 162°05'E
Description:  A large glacier on the E coast of Victoria Land, descending eastward from the polar plateau, to the N of Trinity Nunatak and the Kirkwood Range, to enter Ross Sea, where it forms the Nordenskjold Ice Tongue. First mapped by the BrAE (1907-09).

Feature Name: Mawson Escarpment
Feature Type: cliff
Latitude: 73°05'S
Longitude: 068°10'E
Description:  A flat-topped, west-facing escarpment which extends in a N-S direction for 70 mi along the E side of Lambert Glacier. Discovered by Flying Officer J. Seaton, RAAF, of ANARE while on a reconnaissance flight in November, 1956.

Feature Name: Mawson Corridor
Feature Type: gap
Latitude: 67°00'S
Longitude: 063°00'E
Description:  A sea passage between grounded icebergs on the approach to Mawson Station at Holme Bay. It is about 22 mi long and 4 to 5 mi wide, opening out at the southern end to give the feature a funnel shape. The northern end at 6645S, 6320E, is sharply defined and coincides with the edge of the continental shelf; from there it bears 202. Discovered by ANARE in 1954, and used regularly by ANARE relief ships in their approach to Mawson Station.

Feature Name: Mawson Coast
Feature Type: beach
Latitude: 67°40'S
Longitude: 063°30'E
Description:  That portion of the coast of Mac. Robertson Land lying between William Scoresby Bay, in 5934E, and Murray Monolith, in 6654E. The coast was sighted during the BANZARE, 1929-30, under Sir Douglas Mawson. Further exploration and landings at Cape Bruce and Scullin Monolith were made during BANZARE, 1930-31.


    p.s. Douglas Mawson might have been a splendid fellow and absolutely first rate, but I bet he regretted having that picture taken of him in the balaclava - I mean it's the sort you'd send to your aunt Ethel* to prove you really are wearing what she knitted for you.

    *other aunts are also available.

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