Frederick George Jackson (6 March 1860 – 13 March 1938) was an English

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

explorer remembered for his expedition to

Franz Josef Land , native_name = , image_name = Map of Franz Josef Land-en.svg , image_caption = Map of Franz Josef Land , image_size = , map_image = Franz Josef Land location-en.svg , map_caption = Location of Franz Josef ...

, when he located the missing Norwegian explorer

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

Biography

Early life

Jackson was born the son of George Frederick and Mary Elizabeth Jackson at Alcester Lodge,

Alcester Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Reddit ...

, Warwickshire, England and educated at

Denstone College Denstone College is a mixed, independent, boarding and day school in Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. It is a Woodard School, having been founded by Nathaniel Woodard, and so Christian traditions are practised as part of Col ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

Career

His first voyage in Arctic waters was on a whaling cruise in 1886–1887, and in 1893 he made a sledge-journey of 3000 miles across the frozen

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

lying between the Ob and the Pechora. His narrative of this journey was published under the title of ''The Great Frozen Land'' (1895).

Jackson–Harmsworth expedition

On his return, he was given the command of the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition of 1894. Sponsored by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, this expedition was to conduct general exploration of

. Whilst leading this expedition, Jackson and his men met by chance on 17 June 1896 the Norwegian arctic explorer

and his companion

Hjalmar Johansen Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen (15 May 1867 – 3 January 1913) was a Norwegian polar explorer. He participated on the first and third ''Fram'' expeditions. He shipped out with the Fridtjof Nansen expedition in 1893–1896, and accompanied Nansen t ...

, who had not been heard of for three years and were presumed dead, but were in fact trying to reach

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Nor ...

by kayak. Jackson informed him that they were in fact on Franz Josef Land, and with Jackson's help, Nansen and Johansen returned home aboard the expedition's supply ship ''Windward'' on 7 August. Jackson and his party wintered at their camp according to plan. The Jackson–Harmsworth expedition proved that Franz Josef Land is nothing more than an archipelago of small islands. In recognition of his services he received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

of the first class of the Norwegian Royal Order of St Olaf in 1898, and was awarded the gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1899. His account of the expedition was published under the title of ''A Thousand Days in the Arctic'' (1899).

Later career

Jackson was commissioned as an officer in the 5th

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

Battalion,

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 5 March 1900. He saw active service in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...

, and following the end of the war, he stayed on as a militia officer in the battalion. He transferred to the 4th Battalion,

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

in 1905, serving in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and reaching the rank of

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

. He resigned his commission in 1917. After being invalided home he commanded Southwark Recruiting District for two years, followed by commands of a number of prisoner of war camps in Germany. His travels also include a journey across the Australian deserts. He is buried in the churchyard of

St Michael and St Mary Magdalene The Church of St Michael and St Mary Magdalene, is the Parish Church of Easthampstead, Berkshire. The parish of Easthampstead is one of the largest parishes in the Church of England. The ethos of the parish is one of traditional worship allied t ...

at Easthampstead 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 Ber ...

, and there is a memorial plaque on the wall of the church near the front. One of the headlands discovered on the expedition was named St Chad's Head (Denstone College was originally called St Chad's College), and the sledge used was presented to Denstone College.''The Denstonian'', March 1927

References

External links

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Frederick George Jackson
Brief bio from homepage of the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment
Frederick George Jackson
Entry in Archives Hub {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Frederick George 1860 births 1938 deaths Burials in Berkshire People from Alcester People educated at Denstone College British Militia officers Manchester Regiment officers East Surrey Regiment officers English explorers Explorers of the Arctic Franz Josef Land People from Bracknell British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I English polar explorers