17 Facts About Lawrence Oates

Lawrence Edward Grace "Titus" Oates was a British army officer, and later an Antarctic explorer, who died from hypothermia during the Terra Nova Expedition when he walked from his tent into a blizzard.

The Lawrence Oates family were wealthy landed gentry, having had land at Dewsbury and Leeds since the 16th century; William Lawrence Oates moved the family to Gestingthorpe, Essex in 1891 after becoming Lord of the manor of Over Hall at Gestingthorpe.

Lawrence Oates was one of the first pupils to attend the nearby Willington School.

Lawrence Oates went on to Eton College but left after less than two years owing to ill health.

Lawrence Oates then attended an army "crammer", South Lynn School, Eastbourne.

Lawrence Oates's father died of typhoid fever in Madeira in 1896.

In 1898, Lawrence Oates was commissioned into the 3rd Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment.

Lawrence Oates saw active service during the Second Boer War as a junior officer in the 6th Dragoons, having been transferred to that cavalry regiment as a second lieutenant in May 1900.

Lawrence Oates took part in operations in the Transvaal, the Orange River Colony, and Cape Colony.

Lawrence Oates was promoted to lieutenant in 1902, and left Cape Town for England after peace was signed in South Africa.

Lawrence Oates was mentioned in despatches by Lord Kitchener in his final despatch dated 23 June 1902.

Lawrence Oates was promoted to captain in 1906, and served in Ireland, Egypt, and India.

Lawrence Oates was often referred to by the nickname "Titus Oates", after the historical figure.

Lawrence Oates managed a few more miles that day but his condition worsened that night.

Lawrence Oates's act of self-sacrifice is one of the most memorable examples of its kind in recent history, and his understated final words are often cited as a veritable example of the traditional characteristic of British people concerning the "stiff upper lip" attitude.

Lawrence Oates's reindeer-skin sleeping bag was recovered and is displayed in the museum of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge with other items from the expedition.

In May 1914 a memorial to Lawrence Oates was placed in the cloister of the newly built School Library at Eton College, itself part of the Boer War Memorial Buildings.