The Rev Arnold Spencer-Smith (1883-1916), chaplain and photographer for the Ross Sea party of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, died in the Antarctic and was buried on the ice. Mr Wallace said the extensive connections between Mr Spencer-Smith, the Ross Sea party and Dunedin, went well beyond the familial. IMAGE: SUPPLIEDSpencer-Smith: frozen continent's first chaplainThe Rev Arnold Spencer-Smith (1883-1916) was chaplain and photographer for the ill-fated Ross Sea party of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1915-16. With Shackleton planning to cross the Antarctic continent from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea, via the South Pole, the Ross Sea party's task was to lay vital supply depots for transcontinental party. The loss of Aurora meant great deprivation for the Ross Sea party, which pressed on to lay the depots regardless.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 02, 2019 15:22 UTC