George Edward Marston (19 March 1882 – 22 November 1940) was an English artist who twice accompanied

Sir 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 ...

on expeditions to

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 ...

, first from 1907 to 1909 on the

Nimrod Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...

expedition, and then later from 1914 to 1917 on the

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing ...

, which ended with the crew being marooned on

Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...

Early life

Marston was born in

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

(Portsmouth, England). He studied art at Regent Street Polytechnic (now the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

Nimrod expedition

Marston was friends with two of Shackleton's sisters, and it was them that encouraged Marston to apply to join their brother's expedition to Antarctica aboard the

. During the Nimrod expedition, George helped to print the book

Aurora Australis An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of br ...

whilst stationed on Antarctica during the winter, contributing sketching and lithographs.

Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition

Marston was one of the first members to sign up for the

, and one of the few to have worked alongside Shackleton before. Marston tended to be somewhat of a procrastinator when needed for necessary duties during the expedition, though he was liked for the most part by the crew. He often yearned for his wife and children back home, which caused him to be rather moody. Because of these things, over the course of the journey Shackleton grew to dislike Marston. While marooned on Elephant Island, some of Marston's oil paints were used to caulk the boat used by Shackleton to reach South Georgia. Marston also helped to design the tents for use on the ice floe the crew camped on once the Endurance sank. Some watercolours and oil paintings by Marston of the expedition (many painted on return from sketches) are held at the Scott Polar Research Institute.

Burial

Marston is buried in the cemetery of St Bartholomew's at East Lyng, Somerset, England.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marston, George 19th-century English painters 19th-century English male artists 20th-century English painters 1882 births 1940 deaths Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic English polar explorers Explorers of Antarctica Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition People from Southsea