Robert Falcon Scott was born on 6 June 1868, the third of six children and elder son of John Edward, a brewer and magistrate, and Hannah Robert Falcon Scott of Stoke Damerel, near Devonport.
31 Facts About Robert Falcon Scott
2.
John Robert Falcon Scott's prosperity came from the ownership of a small Plymouth brewery which he had inherited from his father and subsequently sold.
3.
In July 1883, Robert Falcon Scott passed out of Britannia as a midshipman, seventh overall in a class of 26.
4.
On this occasion, 1 March 1887, Markham observed Midshipman Robert Falcon Scott's cutter winning that morning's race across the bay.
5.
Robert Falcon Scott was impressed by Scott's intelligence, enthusiasm and charm, and the 18-year-old midshipman was duly noted.
6.
In March 1888 Robert Falcon Scott passed his examinations for sub-lieutenant, with four first class certificates out of five.
7.
Robert Falcon Scott's career progressed smoothly, with service on various ships and promotion to lieutenant in 1889.
8.
Robert Falcon Scott graduated with first class certificates in both the theory and practical examinations.
9.
Robert Falcon Scott rejects the notion of protection by senior officers on the grounds that Scott was not important or well-connected enough to warrant this.
10.
John Robert Falcon Scott, having sold the brewery and invested the proceeds unwisely, had lost all his capital and was now virtually bankrupt.
11.
The expedition had caught the public imagination, and Robert Falcon Scott became a popular hero.
12.
Robert Falcon Scott was awarded a cluster of honours and medals, including many from overseas, and was promoted to the rank of captain.
13.
Robert Falcon Scott was invited to Balmoral Castle, and King Edward VII promoted him to Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
14.
Robert Falcon Scott claimed, in the first of a series of letters to Shackleton, that the area around McMurdo was his own "field of work" to which he had prior rights until he chose to give them up, and that Shackleton should therefore work from an entirely different area.
15.
Robert Falcon Scott's initial meeting with Scott was brief, but when they met again later that year, the mutual attraction was obvious.
16.
However, Robert Falcon Scott's persistence was rewarded and, on 2 September 1908, at the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace, the wedding took place.
17.
Robert Falcon Scott had, as Markham observed, been "bitten by the Pole mania".
18.
Dog expert Cecil Meares was going to Siberia to select the dogs, and Robert Falcon Scott ordered that, while he was there, he should deal with the purchase of Manchurian ponies.
19.
Meanwhile, Robert Falcon Scott recruited Bernard Day, from Shackleton's expedition, as his motor expert.
20.
Robert Falcon Scott meanwhile was fundraising in Britain and joined the ship later in South Africa.
21.
Robert Falcon Scott conceded that his ponies would not be able to start early enough in the season to compete with Amundsen's cold-tolerant dog teams for the pole, and acknowledged that the Norwegian's base was closer to the pole by 69 miles.
22.
However, during the 1911 winter Robert Falcon Scott's confidence increased; on 2 August, after the return of a three-man party from their winter journey to Cape Crozier, Robert Falcon Scott wrote, "I feel sure we are as near perfection as experience can direct".
23.
Robert Falcon Scott outlined his plans for the southern journey to the entire shore party, leaving open who would form the final polar team, according to their performance during the polar travel.
24.
Robert Falcon Scott reminded the returning Surgeon-Lieutenant Atkinson of the order "to take the two dog-teams south in the event of Meares having to return home, as seemed likely".
25.
Robert Falcon Scott left letters to Wilson's mother, Bowers' mother, a string of notables including his former commander, Sir George Egerton, his own mother and his wife.
26.
Robert Falcon Scott wrote his "Message to the Public", primarily a vindication of the expedition's organisation and conduct in which the party's failure is attributed to weather and other misfortunes, but ending on an inspirational note, with these words:.
27.
Robert Falcon Scott is presumed to have died on 29 March 1912, or possibly one day later.
28.
In place of the knighthood that might have been her husband's had he survived, Kathleen Robert Falcon Scott was granted the rank and precedence of a widow of a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.
29.
Robert Falcon Scott was the better wordsmith of the two, and the story that spread throughout the world was largely that told by him, with Amundsen's victory reduced in the eyes of many to an unsporting stratagem.
30.
Robert Falcon Scott's reputation survived the period after World War II, beyond the 50th anniversary of his death.
31.
In 2012, Karen May published her discovery that Robert Falcon Scott had issued written orders, before his march to the Pole, for Meares to meet the returning party with dog-teams, in contrast to Huntford's assertion in 1979 that Robert Falcon Scott issued those vital instructions only as a casual oral order to Evans during the march to the Pole.