Following his miraculous escape from Antarctica in 1916 (along with the rest of his expedition party), Shackleton embarked on a lecture tour. He soon became bored with this however, and in 1921 he set out on another Antarctic expedition. But on 5 January 1922, shortly arriving arriving in South Georgia, he suffered a fatal heart attack (aged 47) and was buried there according to the wishes of his widow, Lady Emily. The expedition continued under Frank Wild, but the ship that Shackleton had procured for the purpose (named Quest by him) proved unsuitable and the expedition was soon recalled by Shackleton's former school friend John Quiller Rowett, the businessman and philanthropist who had provided the funds that made it possible.
© Haydn Thompson 2021