Scottish marine biologist and polar explorer (1867–1921)
William Speirs Bruce
Born
(1867-08-01)1 August 1867
London, England
Died
28 October 1921(1921-10-28) (aged 54)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Resting place
Ashes scattered in the South Atlantic Ocean off the southern shores of South Georgia
Nationality
British
Education
University of Edinburgh
Occupation(s)
Naturalist, polar scientist and explorer
Spouse
Jessie Mackenzie
(m. 1901)
Children
2
William Speirs BruceFRSE (1 August 1867 – 28 October 1921) was a British naturalist, polar scientist and oceanographer who organised and led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE, 1902–04) to the South Orkney Islands and the Weddell Sea. Among other achievements, the expedition established the first permanent weather station in Antarctica. Bruce later founded the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory in Edinburgh, but his plans for a transcontinental Antarctic march via the South Pole were abandoned because of lack of public and financial support.
In 1892 Bruce gave up his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh and joined the Dundee Whaling Expedition to Antarctica as a scientific assistant. This was followed by Arctic voyages to Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land. In 1899 Bruce, by then Britain's most experienced polar scientist, applied for a post on Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Expedition, but delays over this appointment and clashes with Royal Geographical Society (RGS) president Sir Clements Markham led him instead to organise his own expedition, and earned him the permanent enmity of the geographical establishment in London. Although Bruce received various awards for his polar work, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen, neither he nor any of his SNAE colleagues were recommended by the RGS for the prestigious Polar Medal.
Between 1907 and 1920 Bruce made many journeys to the Arctic regions, both for scientific and for commercial purposes. His failure to mount any major exploration ventures after the SNAE is usually attributed to his lack of public relations skills, powerful enemies, and his Scottish nationalism. By 1919 his health was failing, and he experienced several spells in the hospital before his death in 1921, after which he was almost totally forgotten. In recent years, following the centenary of the Scottish Expedition, efforts have been made to give fuller recognition to his role in the history of scientific polar exploration.
and 24 Related for: William Speirs Bruce information
WilliamSpeirsBruce FRSE (1 August 1867 – 28 October 1921) was a British naturalist, polar scientist and oceanographer who organised and led the Scottish...
WilliamBruce-Gardyne of Clan Gardyne, Laird of Middleton, Angus, Scotland WilliamSpeirsBruce (1867–1921), Scottish explorer William George Bruce (1856–1949)...
murder victim Ronald Speirs (1920–2007), United States Army officer Steve Speirs (born 1965), British actor WilliamSpeirsBruce (1867–1921), London-born...
was done until the expedition of WilliamSpeirsBruce on the Scotia in 1903, which overwintered at Laurie Island. Bruce surveyed the islands, reverted some...
the island, at 80°55'N, was named Cape Bruce, after British zoologist and oceanographer WilliamSpeirsBruce, a member of the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition...
Antarctic Expedition (SNAE), 1902–1904, was organised and led by WilliamSpeirsBruce, a natural scientist and former medical student from the University...
was accompanied by several naturalists (including Williams SpeirsBruce) and an artist, William Gordon Burn Murdoch. The publications (both scientific and...
old man", while WilliamSpeirsBruce wrote of Markham's "malicious opposition to the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition". Bruce's colleague Robert...
Larsen 1902–1904 – Scottish National Antarctic Expedition – led by WilliamSpeirsBruce 1903–1905 – Second French Antarctic Expedition – led by Jean-Baptiste...
had been announced, and then abandoned, by the British explorer WilliamSpeirsBruce, for a continental crossing via the South Pole, starting from a landing...
charted in 1903 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under WilliamSpeirsBruce, who named it for Ferguslie, the residence of James Coats, chief...
says he took his stage name, Speirs, from the surname of a lecturer at college. Since graduating from university, Speirs has played Sloan in Eragon, Andy...
charted in 1903 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under WilliamSpeirsBruce, who named it for Alexander Buchan, noted Scottish meteorologist...
Robertson Bowers Louise Arner Boyd Edward Bransfield Philip Brocklehurst WilliamSpeirsBruce Georgy Brusilov Daniel Byles Richard Evelyn Byrd Todd Carmichael...
visit to the island by a scientific party on 21 April 1904, when WilliamSpeirsBruce and others collected specimens. The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition...
(1911). The Heart of the Antarctic. London: William Heinemann. Speak, Peter (2003). WilliamSpeirsBruce: Polar Explorer and Scottish Nationalist. Edinburgh:...
1894, he hurried there hoping to find a vacancy. He was fortunate; WilliamSpeirsBruce, later an Antarctic expedition leader in his own right, had intended...
charted in 1903 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under WilliamSpeirsBruce, who named it after H. Methuen, the expedition's accountant. "Methuen...
was accompanied by several naturalists (including Williams SpeirsBruce) and an artist, William Gordon Burn Murdoch. The publications (both scientific and...
(1911). The Heart of the Antarctic. London: William Heinemann. Speak, Peter (2003). WilliamSpeirsBruce. Edinburgh: NMS Publishing. ISBN 1-901663-71-X...
original on 2008-03-11. Retrieved 2008-06-30. Speak, Peter (2003). WilliamSpeirsBruce: Polar Explorer and Scottish Nationalist. Edinburgh: NMS Publishing...
charted in 1903 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under WilliamSpeirsBruce, who named them for Robert Neal Rudmose-Brown, naturalist of the...