Sir Raymond Priestley became President of the Royal Geographic Society 1961-63.Īfter retirement he retained his interest in all Antarctic exploration and always kept contact with Tewkesbury, living at nearby Bredons Norton until his death in 1974.Ĭome and see our exhibition on the life of Sir Raymond Priestley in our Museum.With support from the RSC, Nantwich Museum has developed this exhibition as part of the 2019 International Year of the Periodic Table celebrations. He visited Hut Point, the Scott Hut at Cape Evans, Shackleton’s Hut at Cape Royds, Little America, Hallet Base and the Balleny Islands. He sailed from New Zealand on USS Wyandot to McMurdo Sound before transferring to the icebreaker, USS Staten Island. He returned to the Antarctic in 1958-59 as an observer of the U.S. Priestley accompanied the Duke of Edinburgh in his capacity as Acting Director of FIDS, landing and inspecting the stations at Detaille Island, Faraday, Anvers Island, Port Lockroy, Danco Island, Admiralty Bay and Deception Island. On arrival they transferred to the ship RSS John Biscoe. He accompanied the Duke of Edinburgh on the Britannia to visit Antarctica in 1956-57. Priestley completely rationalised the administrative organisation during his tenure.
He essentially ran the organisation whilst the Director, Sir Vivian Fuchs was leading the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. He was Acting Director of the former Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) (later called the British Antarctic Survey) from 1955-58. The Commission covered all aspects of the employment of civil servants. He was Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service 1952-55. He was knighted for Services to Education in 1949. He was subsequently involved with setting up the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and Trinidad from 1946-51. In 1938 he was appointed Vice Chancellor of Birmingham University, retiring in 1952.įrom 1941, he was Chairman of the Post-War Planning Survey: West Midlands Group.ĭuring 1943 – 45 he was a member of the West Indies Committee of the Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies. Post-war he worked in university administration at Cambridge University, then took the post of first Vice Chancellor at Melbourne University, Australia. With Frank Debenham, he helped found the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge in 1920. After the war he wrote, “Breaking the Hindenburg Line: The Story of the 46th North Midland Division”, published 1919 and “The Signal Service in the European War of 1914-1918”, published 1921. Priestley attained the rank of Major and was awarded the Military Cross. Priestley served in the Great War in the Signals Division of the Royal Engineers. He was also responsible for several scientific papers based on field data from Shackleton’s and Scott’s expeditions, published between 19 Priestley’s book on the experience “Antarctic Adventure: Scott’s Northern Party”, was published in 1914. All six of them survived until the spring and then they trekked 200 miles to Scott’s base, only to be greeted with the news of the deaths of Scott’s polar party.
After a summer spent camping further down the coast the Northern party became stranded and had to spend the winter of 1912 living in an ice cave on very strict rations eked out with penguin and seal meat.
This experience allowed him to be offered a place on Scott’s 1910, Terra Nova Expedition.Īs a member of Scott’s scientific Northern Party led by Lieutenant Victor Campbell, Priestley lived with the five other members in a hut at Cape Adare for a year. Born on July 20th 1886, Raymond Edward Priestley grew up and went to school in Tewkesbury, before going on to become an explorer, scientist, soldier and educator.Īt the age of 20, whilst studying geology at Bristol University, chance gave him the opportunity to join Ernest Shackleton’s 1908 expedition to Antarctica as a geologist.
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