Alfred Stephenson OBE (25 November 1908 – 3 July 1999) was an English

polar explorer This list is for recognised pioneering explorers of the polar regions. It does not include subsequent travelers and expeditions. Polar explorers * Jameson Adams * Stian Aker * Valerian Albanov * Roald Amundsen * Salomon August Andrée * Piotr F ...

and

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

Biography

Stephenson was born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, England and was educated at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...

. At age 12 he attended a public lecture given by

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

which inspired his interest in the polar regions. He went on to study geography at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

where he befriended

Frank Debenham Frank Debenham, OBE (26 December 1883 – 23 November 1965) was Emeritus Professor of Geography at the Department of Geography, Cambridge University and first director of the Scott Polar Research Institute. Biography Debenham was born in B ...

who had been on the

Terra Nova Expedition The ''Terra Nova'' Expedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. Led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition had various scientific and geographical objec ...

led by

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

between 1910 and 1913. Following graduation Stephenson joined the

British Arctic Air Route Expedition The British Arctic Air Route Expedition (BAARE) was a privately funded expedition to the east coast and interior of the island of Greenland from 1930 to 1931. Led by Gino Watkins, it aimed to improve maps and charts of poorly surveyed sections of ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

as chief surveyor. In often difficult polar conditions the expedition surveyed a strategic area of Greenland valuable to the Great Circle air route between the British Isles and North America, work for which Stephenson was awarded the

Polar Medal The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom to individuals who have outstanding achievements in the field of polar research, and particularly for those who have worked over extended periods in harsh climates. It w ...

. Despite his inexperience as a climber he held the altitude record of

Mont Forel Mont Forel is a mountain in King Christian IX Land, Sermersooq Municipality, Greenland. It is part of the Schweizerland range, also known as 'Schweizerland Alps'. This peak is located in a popular climbing destination, together with the Watkins R ...

at 10,950 ft with his companion

Lawrence Wager Lawrence Rickard Wager, commonly known as Bill Wager, (5 February 1904 – 20 November 1965) was a British geologist, explorer and mountaineer, described as "one of the finest geological thinkers of his generation"Vincent and best remembered for ...

for many years, even though they were not able to reach the 11,099 ft high summit owing to the ice dome at the top.The Swiss Expedition to Greenland 1938. André Roch
/ref> In 1932 he was a member of the British Polar Year Expedition. In 1934 he was chief surveyor and meteorologist of the British Graham Land Expedition in the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he joined the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

as chief instructor at the Central Allied Photo Interpretation Unit. For his work in training interpreters and helping to develop new photographic interpretation techniques he was appointed an OBE. In 1945 he joined

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, where he was involved in teaching and research until his retirement in 1972. From 1956 to 1996 he was the honorary secretary of the Antarctic Club.

Legacy

Mount Stephenson Mount Stephenson a mountain in Antarctica. It is located within the central portion of the Douglas Range, standing at the heads of Toynbee Glacier and Sedgwick Glacier west of George VI Sound, near the east coast of Alexander Island within the ...

, the highest peak (3,100 m) in the

Douglas Range The Douglas Range () is a sharp-crested range, with peaks rising to 3,000 metres, extending 120 km (75 mi) in a northwest–southeast direction from Mount Nicholas to Mount Edred and forming a steep east escarpment of Alexander Island ...

of Antarctica, and

Stephenson Nunatak Stephenson Nunatak () is a prominent, pyramid-shaped rock nunatak, rising to about 640 m, which rises 300 m above the surrounding ice at the northwest side of Kirwan Inlet in the southeast part of Alexander Island, Antarctica. Discovered and roug ...

, in the southeast part of

Alexander Island Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarc ...

, as well as Stephenson Island (Greenland), are named after him.

References

External links

Guardian obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Alfred 1908 births 1999 deaths English explorers Explorers of Antarctica Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Polar Medal 20th-century explorers People educated at Norwich School Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II