George Buckley (25 October 1866 – 10 November 1937) was a New Zealand farmer, soldier and adventurer. He ventured partway to
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
with the
British Antarctic Expedition led 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 ...
.
Early life
George Alexander Maclean Buckley was born on 25 October 1866 at his parents' homestead, ''Casteron'', in the
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
suburb
Heathcote Valley
Heathcote Valley is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is named after Sir William Heathcote, who was secretary of the Canterbury Association.
Location
Nestled at the foot of the steep volcanic crags that form the northern edge of the hil ...
. His father was
George Buckley, who at the time of his birth was a member of the
Canterbury Provincial Council
The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was Christchurch.
History
Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the Canterbury Association of influential Eng ...
. Buckley had a least one sibling, a sister, Ruby; she would go on to marry
Arthur Rolleston
Arthur Cecil Rolleston (13 December 1867 – 28 September 1918) was a New Zealand cricketer and lawyer who played two matches of first-class cricket for Canterbury in 1890 and 1891.
Life and career
One of the sons of the prominent New Zealand p ...
. From 1878 to 1880, Buckley boarded at Condell's House to attend
Christ's College.
He finished his education in England at
Cheltenham College
("Work Conquers All")
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Head
, head = Nicola Huggett
...
.
Buckley joined the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in 1885, initially serving with the
East Lancashire Regiment
The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nott ...
. He subsequently was posted to India where he served with the
Hampshire Regiment
The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The regi ...
. He left the British Army following his marriage to Mabel Warren in 1890.
She was the daughter of Francis Warren of
Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. The couple went on to have three children. He returned to New Zealand, joining the military forces in which he served until 1900.
He farmed at
Lagmhor, a locality inland from
Ashburton and to the west of the
Ashburton River South Branch; the estate was given to him in 1899 by his uncle,
John McLean
John McLean (March 11, 1785 – April 4, 1861) was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice of the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts. He was often discussed for ...
. A sizeable
sheep station
A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
at the time, Buckley soon started selling off sections of land. The last section of about 4,000–5,000 acres, on which 11,000 sheep was run, was sold off in 1913.
Antarctic journey
In July 1907, Ernest Shackleton mounted the
British Antarctic Expedition, an attempt to reach the South Pole. The expedition provisioned its ship, the
''Nimrod'', at Lyttelton, near Christchurch in New Zealand, in late November and into December. There was much interest in New Zealand in the expedition, and it received several donations including from Buckley, who contributed £500. According to a letter written by Shackleton to his wife Emily, Buckley had promised a further £1000 if the expedition reached the South Pole.
Buckley managed to join the expedition, securing passage aboard merely two hours prior through a personal appeal to Shackleton to be transported as far as the
pack ice
Drift ice, also called brash ice, is sea ice that is not attached to the shoreline or any other fixed object (shoals, grounded icebergs, etc.).Leppäranta, M. 2011. The Drift of Sea Ice. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Unlike fast ice, which is "fasten ...
. Rushing to gather his effects in time, he boarded the ''Nimrod'' shortly before it departed Lyttelton for Antarctica on 1 January 1908. "Surely a record in the way of joining a Polar expedition", Shackleton is reported to have said at the time.
To conserve its fuel for exploring the Antarctic, ''Nimrod'' was towed south by the
''Koonya'' as far as the pack ice, which it reached on 14 January. During his two-week service on ''Nimrod'', Buckley helped care for the expedition's horses and dogs. While the crew of the ''Koonya'' slaughtered ten sheep on deck and sent the carcasses to the ''Nimrod'' as fresh meat for their further journey, the sailors of the ''Nimrod'' gave Buckley a champagne toast before transferring him to a whaleboat and onto the ''Koonya'' for return to New Zealand.
Buckley moved to the United Kingdom soon afterwards, living near Crawley, in the English county of Sussex. He remained friendly with Shackleton, and it was while visiting Buckley at his home that Shackleton took ill with heart problems. Shackleton refused to seek medical care and Buckley had to send him home in his own vehicle.
First World War
On the outbreak of the First World War, Buckley rejoined his previous British Army unit, the Hampshire Regiment, being posted to its 12th Battalion. He was subsequently appointed commander of the 7th Battalion,
Leinster Regiment
The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot and the 109th Regiment of Foot ...
. In November 1916, Buckley was appointed a
Companion of the Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typic ...
for conspicuous gallantry during the
Battle of Guillemont
The Battle of Guillemont (3–6 September 1916) was an attack, during the Battle of the Somme in the First World War, by the British Fourth Army against the German 2nd Army near the village of Guillemont in northern France. The village is on ...
.
The citation for the DSO was published in ''The London Gazette'' and read:
In the
1919 King's Birthday Honours
The 1919 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...
, Buckley was made a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
, for valuable services rendered in connection with the war.
Later life
In his later years, Buckley continued to be physically active. He regularly sailed in the seas around Scandinavian Europe and also undertook extensive motor car journeys as far as the Balkan countries. He had recently returned from Turkey when he died suddenly in London on 10 November 1937. His wife had predeceased him in 1929.
Buckley is the namesake for two features in Antarctica:
Buckley Island
Buckley Island is an island on the Ohio River in Wood County, West Virginia between Marietta, Ohio and Williamstown, West Virginia. The Interstate 77 bridge over the Ohio crosses the island's western portion. Throughout its history, Buckley Isl ...
, an island proximate to Beardmore Glacier, and
Mount Buckley
Mount Buckley () is an ice-free peak, high, which is the central and highest summit of Buckley Island, a mountain massif at the head of Beardmore Glacier. It was discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09, and named for George Buc ...
, an ice-free peak, high, of Buckley Island. Both were discovered by Shackleton's Nimrod expedition of 1907–09.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckley, George
Explorers of Antarctica
1866 births
1937 deaths
19th-century New Zealand farmers
New Zealand explorers
20th-century New Zealand farmers
New Zealand Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
People from Christchurch
People educated at Cheltenham College