Lieutenant-Colonel Llewellyn Wood Longstaff (23 December 1841 – 20 November 1918) was an English industrialist and fellow of 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 ...

. He is best known for being the chief private-sector patron and financial angel of the

Discovery Expedition The ''Discovery'' Expedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–184 ...

to the Antarctic.

Antarctic patron

Llewellyn Longstaff was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, on 23 December 1841. In 1873, he married Marie Lydia Sawyer, with whom he had 10 children, including mountaineer

Tom George Longstaff Tom George Longstaff (15 January 1875 – 26 June 1964) was an English medical doctor, explorer and mountaineer, most famous for being the first person to climb a summit of over 7,000 metres in elevation, Trisul, in the India/Pakistan Himalay ...

. He owned a significant equity share in Blundell Spence & Co., a £400,000 firm based in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

that crushed

linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colorless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...

to manufacture

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. Oil paint also has practical advantages over other paints, mainly because it is waterproof. The earliest surviving ...

. He was also a member of several nongovernmental organizations, including the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, the Hull Chamber of Commerce and Shipping, and the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). Longstaff's Society membership coincided with the presidency of longtime RGS leader Sir

Clements Markham Sir Clements Robert Markham (20 July 1830 – 30 January 1916) was an English geographer, explorer and writer. He was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) between 1863 and 1888, and later served as the Society's president fo ...

, whose dream was to organize a British expedition to the then-unknown Antarctic continent. Markham's initial efforts to lobby for funds were met with indifference in

; but Longstaff's friendship with Markham made it possible for the impecunious expedition plans to move forward, as the industrialist pledged in 1899 to donate £25,000 sterling. The British government then promised to appropriate £40,000 as

matching funds Matching funds are funds that are set to be paid in proportion to funds available from other sources. Matching fund payments usually arise in situations of charity or public good. The terms cost sharing, in-kind, and matching can be used inter ...

, thus creating a budget to support the construction in 1900-1901 of a ship for the expedition, RRS ''Discovery''. The ship, partly paid for by Longstaff, would be commanded by Markham's protégé

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott (6 June 1868 – ) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova Expedition ...

. The paint manufacturer's donation gave him the standing to recommend potential expedition members to Markham. After Sir Llewellyn's son Cedric befriended a junior

Union Castle ''Union Castle'' is a British comedy television series which was originally broadcast on ITV in 1982.Palmer p.811 Lord Mountainash, the left wing leader of a Trade Union, buys Runnymeade Castle as a base for his campaign against the Thatcher ...

merchant navy officer while their ship was heading for South Africa, young Cedric recommended his friend to Longstaff's attention. Longstaff got the sea officer,

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 Antarcti ...

, a crucial interview with Markham that led to his selection for the expedition. The ''Discovery Expedition'' sailed south, with Scott as commander and Shackleton as a key officer, in August 1901. The expedition members treated Longstaff ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

'' as their principal patron, and in December 1902 Scott and Shackleton, in a probe southward over the

Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between high ...

, discovered and named the

Longstaff Peaks The Holland Range () is a rugged coastal mountain range in the Ross Dependency, Antarctica, on the west coast of the Ross Ice Shelf. It is about long. Location The Holland Range lies just west of the Ross Ice Shelf and extends from Robb Glacie ...

, a mountain system in the

Holland Range The Holland Range () is a rugged coastal mountain range in the Ross Dependency, Antarctica, on the west coast of the Ross Ice Shelf. It is about long. Location The Holland Range lies just west of the Ross Ice Shelf and extends from Robb Glacie ...

. Longstaff died on 20 November 1918 in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, London. He was posthumously appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1919 New Year Honours The 1919 New Year 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 published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Janu ...

. The ''Discovery'', built with his donation, was preserved as a historic landmark. As of 2022 it is permanently moored in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Family

Llewelyn was the father of mountaineer

Tom Longstaff Tom George Longstaff (15 January 1875 – 26 June 1964) was an England, English medical doctor, explorer and mountaineer, most famous for being the first person to climb a summit of over 7,000 metres in elevation, Trisul, in the India/Pakistan ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longstaff, Llewellyn W. 1841 births 1918 deaths Businesspeople from Kingston upon Hull Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society 19th-century English businesspeople