Hi. I've been told that my GGgrandfather made several of the instruments that Scott took with him on his journey (I'm guessing navigational/geographical etc). I was wondering if anyone would know of sites where I could try and verify information like this.
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Scott of the Antarctic - where to look for certain info.....
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Dr Edward Wilson who accompanied Scott lived in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire and Cheltenham Museum and Art gallery have quite a lot of bits relating to the Antartic expedition which was donated to them by the Wilson family. If you have any specific queries it might be worth emailing the curators. Link to website Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum - Home.Helen in Glos
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Hi Margaret
I found this photo of Wilson's lab on Antartica just as he left it - it might be of interest as it shows just a few bits of lab equipment.
2001 Antarctic ExpeditionHelen in Glos
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Scott lived at "Outlands" in Plymouth at some point in time and may be worth getting in touch with Plymouth Library or Record Office to see if they have any information as Plymouth was always proud of the Scott connection.
Janet
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Good Morning ladies. Thank you for your help. I will definitely check the sites you mention.
HM - I'm not sure exactly what type of stuff he made. I will email my dad and his cousin again to see if I can nudge any info 'to the top'. He died in 1953 so no worries about confidentiality etc.
Mary - that was about the only thing I found in my search. A lot of 'instrument' connections seemed to be about music for a movie that was made about the Scott expedition.
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His name was Percy Charles Darlison born 1875 Middlesex. My dad said he was a Tool/Instrument maker. In 1901 he is listed as a Typewriter Adjuster. When he marries in 1904 Leicester he is a Typewriter Inventor (another long story that I have yet to unravel). By 1909 he is in Edinburgh and is a Theatrical Manager. The certificate for his death in 1953 Bristol lists him as Inspector Marine Pumps (Retired).
Since Scott's expedition was around the time I know Percy was in Scotland (birth of my grandfather and his brother), I am unsure when or where Scott would have acquired these instruments. Of course, there is always the possibility that Percy worked for a firm that produced that sort of thing and that Scott didn't actually use "his" instruments.
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Margaret, welcome.
I think it likely that Percy worked for a firm of instrument makers, with whom Scott would have had a contract. In fact there were probably several firms as they took a wide variety of instruments, some of them cumbersome.
I had a quick flick through Ranulph Fiennes' biography of Captain Scott without success.
I suggest you try the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge.
Scott Polar Research Institute~ with love from Little Nell~Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy
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I had a look on Google web search and book search, the Gale newspaper site and the London Gazette, and didn't find anything about him apart from three theatrical references on Google book search. Are you quite sure that the inventor and the theatrical manager were the same person? It seems an odd combination of careers.
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On the other hand husband has distant rellie who was a marble paper maker and inventor. The inventor bit turns out to be three patents he took out on unrelated items
1849 traps for closets, drains, sewers, cesspools
1850 scissors and thimbles
1851 ventilated boot
none of these things seem connected either to eachother or to marble paper making!~ with love from Little Nell~Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy
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Yes, he's the same guy. At one point he was also an Engineer at Singers in Edinburgh. Both he and his wife were into drama. My uncle remembers visiting them on Sundays and having to sit through violin and piano recitals after dinner.
Nell, I will check out that site. Still waiting to hear back from my father and his cousin to see if they remember anything further to what I've already been told.
Mary - I didn't know there was such an animal as Google Books (it's bookmarked now!!) That is the first time I've seen his name in print and I've been searching for info on him and his wife for ages. Apparently he wrote a book(let) on the theatre troupe they were with - same uncle as above threw it out because none of his children were interested in that sort of thing!!! AND I'd only been doing the family tree for 15 years. You would have thunk he would have asked me!!
I heard he also wrote an informational booklet about converting to Catholicism - binned again.
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Margaret,
I would certainly follow up the link which Little Nell gave you to the Scott Polar Institute here in Cambridge.
They were very helpful when I contacted them about a family tree link we have to Ernest Shackleton, they have many artefacts from Scott's Expeditions, and many researchers associated with the institute, I'm sure they will be able to help.~ Louise ~
Researching Dalzell, Highmore & Sumpton in Cumbria, also Braidford & Chevalier
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Louise, I will definitely follow up on these links. I'm just going to wait until I hear from my father and his cousin to see if they can shed some light on what type of tools/instruments so I can pinpoint what I am actually looking for. Hopefully I will get some good results like you did.
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Negretti and Zambra - is that a company or two different people? I guess if the instruments were made by a certain person within a company it would be hard to tell unless they marked them in some way. At least in those days there was no mass production lines, so there would be a better chance of finding something made by a specific individual.
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