This 1912 group portrait of on deck of the Terra Nova with Irish Antarctic explorer Tom Crean, Lieutenant E.R.G.R. “Teddy” Evans and William Lashly, made £5,300 over a top estimate of £800 at Bonhams Travel and Exploration sale in London. The three had formed the last of the supporting teams to be sent back by Scott, as he commenced the final push for the South Pole. During the return journey Evans went down with scurvy, and tried to persuade Crean and Lashly to leave him behind. Instead they strapped him to a sledge and man-hauled him to within four or five days’ march of Hut Point. From there Crean set out to collect help, while Lashly stayed to look after Evans. Evans’ saviours were both awarded the Albert Medal.
Tom Crean (1877-1938) was a member of three Antarctic expeditions. He joined Robert Scott’s Discovery Expedition of 1901-04. After Terra Nova his third and final expedition was as second officer on Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition. After the ship Endurance became beset in the pack ice and sank, Crean and the ship’s company spent 492 days drifting on the ice before a journey in boats to Elephant Island. He was a member of the crew which made a small boat journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia to seek aid.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 19, 2020)
