The Boss and the Scout

18/01/2024

In 1921, Ernest ‘The Boss’ Shackleton hired two scouts to join his final expedition. One of them went on to help establish the world’s southernmost post office.

“I want to do something” was James William Slessor Marr’s response during his interview with Sir Ernest Shackleton. 

Marr was an 18-year-old “bluff, big-hearted fellow” studying classics and zoology at the University of Aberdeen. He was one of 10 scouts shortlisted – from 1,700 applications – for the position of cabin boy after it was advertised in the Daily Mail in July 1921. Shackleton had placed the ad to garner press publicity and capture the public imagination. 

In the end, two scouts were selected: James William Slesser Marr of the 1st City of Aberdeen Scout Troop and Norman Erlend Mooney of the 2nd Orkney Scout Troop.

Shackleton with Scout Marr (right) and Mooney (left) 1921 (Credit: The Scouts Heritage Collection)

“Imagine how my heart leaped when the news was told. Oh, yes, it was good to be young and ambitious – and chosen,” said Marr in his 1923 book Into the Frozen South, a narrative of Ernest Shackleton's Quest expedition also known as the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition (1921–22).

Marr joined the Shackleton-Rowlett Expedition aboard the Quest. The expedition was Shackleton’s final Antarctic project and the conclusive episode in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. 

“Often had I thought how splendid it would be to visit those wastes of snow and ice and furious seas. And here were my biggest dreams coming true.”  

Ernest Shackleton died onboard the Quest, while it was docked at South Georgia, cutting short this final voyage of discovery. At 47, Shackleton was not only ‘The Boss’ but the young scout’s mentor. 

“Every boy has his private heroes. Shackleton was one of mine. Here was a man to be followed anywhere – everywhere; a man whom it would be a great thing to serve...With all the weight of responsibility he carried, he still found time to interest himself in an obscure scout. But he was like that; I think that was one of the qualities that made him great.” 

Scouts James Marr and Norman Mooney on departure in 1921 (Credit: BAS Archives)

Shackleton had left a lasting impression on his young protégé. Two worlds had collided. Marr went on to serve in Antarctica four times before his polar career culminated in leading Operation Tabarin in 1944, establishing British bases at Deception Island and Port Lockroy. 

Shackleton’s death over a century ago on 5 January 1922 gave Marr pause to write, “A great man had left us, and the ship was lonely…  The great spirit that led us forth into the Frozen South and died, yet lives again, as a magnet to draw the brave away from the sleek comforts of life into that outer world of daring where men may gaze in awe upon the wonders of the Lord.” 

Lieutenant Commander James Marr at Port Lockroy as part of Operation Tabarin, 5 November 1944 (Credit: BAS Archives)

Almost two decades later, in 1943, during the Second World War, Lieutenant Marr was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on appointment as expedition leader of Operation Tabarin. The 1944 secret mission established the first permanent British base on the continent.

Over the ensuing years, Port Lockroy witnessed the birth of British Antarctic science while it operated as an atmospheric research base until 1962. 

Abandoned for three decades, Port Lockroy was restored in 1996 with support from UKAHT, who then took over full management of the site in 2006. Since then, we’ve been welcoming visitors to the museum and the world’s southernmost public post office, while capturing important data on our resident gentoo colony.

From secret mission to penguin post office, Port Lockroy is an ever-evolving story. 

Quotes taken from Into The Frozen South by James Marr published by Cassell and Company, London 1923