Sir Raymond Edward Priestley (20 July 1886 – 24 June 1974) was an English geologist and early Antarctic explorer. He was Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, where he helped found The Raymond Priestley Centre on the shores of Coniston Water in the

Lake District National Park The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

Biography

Raymond Priestley was born in Tewkesbury,Museum's artefacts suffering from cold.
thisisdorset.co.uk 11 November 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2011.

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, in 1886, the second son and second of eight children of Joseph Edward Priestley, headmaster of Tewkesbury grammar school, and his wife, Henrietta Rice. He was educated at his father's school and taught there for a year before reading

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

at University College, Bristol (1905–07).

Antarctic expeditions

Priestley had completed his second year of studies when he enlisted as a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

for Shackleton's ''Nimrod'' Expedition (1907–09) 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 (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. There he worked closely with renowned geologists (Sir) Edgeworth David and

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

, also members of the expedition. Priestley collected

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

samples from the region including islands in the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who ...

, the North face of the Mount Erebus

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

, and mountains near the Ferrar Glacier. He was part of the advance team that laid the food and fuel depots for Shackleton's nearly successful attempt to be the first to reach the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...

in 1909. In a November 1908 expedition, due to a lack of space in a tent, Priestley spent three days of a blizzard sleeping outside in his sleeping bag. As the blizzard raged, he slowly slipped down the glacier and nearly fell off its end to his death. On his return from the expedition, he spent four months in England before returning to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, to work with Edgeworth David on the geological report, eventually published in 1914. Priestley returned to the Antarctic as a member of

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 ...

's ill-fated ''Terra Nova'' Expedition (1910–1913), after being recruited by Scott when the Terra Nova arrived in Sydney. Three weeks after landing at Cape Evans in January 1911, Priestley and five others departed in the expedition ship, the ''Terra Nova'' to explore and carry out scientific work in King Edward VII land to the east under the leadership of Victor Campbell. Unable to find a suitable landing site, they decided to return West with the intention of landing at the

Bay of Whales The Bay of Whales was a natural ice harbour, or iceport, indenting the front of the Ross Ice Shelf just north of Roosevelt Island, Antarctica, at the southernmost point of the world's ocean. While the Ross Sea stretches considerably further s ...

but arriving on 3 February 1911 they encountered

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...

's ship '' Fram'' and his expedition already camped there. Unwilling to establish a camp so close to the Norwegians, Campbell decided to explore the coastline of

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78th parallel south, 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Ant ...

instead. After returning to Cape Evans and reporting Amundsen's location to Scott, they set off North to Victoria Land where they established a hut near Carsten Borchgrevink's 1898 site at Cape Adare. In January 1912, the six-man party was taken 200 miles farther south by the ''Terra Nova'' to Terra Nova Bay, midway between Cape Evans and Cape Adare, for summer fieldwork. They had provisions for eight weeks but their tents were badly damaged by a gale, and the ''Terra Nova'' was unable to penetrate the ice pack and pick up the party as arranged. Realising that they would have to winter where they were, they excavated a small 12 foot by 9 foot ice cave in a snow drift and remained there in the shelter they nicknamed " Inexpressible Island" for almost 7 months until the end of the Austral winter, supplementing their meagre rations with seal and penguin. With two of the party weak from enteritis, they left their temporary home on 30 September 1912 and walked for five weeks, fortuitously finding a cache of food and fuel along the way which had been left by the expedition's western party the previous year. They eventually arrived safely back at Cape Evans on 7 November 1912, only to be informed that Scott and the entire Polar party had perished months earlier.

First World War

Priestley served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, receiving a commission as a temporary second lieutenant in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

(London Wireless Signal Company) on 5 September 1914. He was seconded on 9 December 1914, and was appointed an adjutant and promoted to temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 15 April 1915. Priestley served as adjutant at the Wireless Training Centre (1914–17), then with the 46th (North Midland) Divisional Signal Company R.E. in France, and was promoted to temporary

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

on 5 February 1916. He commanded the 46th (North Midland) Divisional Signal Company R.E. from 1917 to 1919, and was involved in the taking of the Riqueval Bridge, part of the Hindenburg line, by the 137th Infantry Brigade, for which he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in March 1919:

Post-war career

After the war, Priestley was promoted to acting

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 24 January 1919, and was seconded to the War Office that year to write the history of the signal service. He also wrote "Breaking the Hindenburg Line", an account of 46 (North Midland) Division's spectacular attack during the Battle of St Quentin Canal. During April–May 1919, he was a staff officer to the Signal Officer-in-Chief, with the temporary rank of major. He relinquished his temporary commission on 17 November 1920, reverting to the permanent rank of lieutenant in the Territorial Force. From 19 February 1921, he again held the temporary rank of major in the reserves, in the 3rd London,

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

. On 6 July 1921, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Cambridge University Contingent (Senior Division), Officers Training Corps. He was promoted to captain on 21 June 1922 and resigned his commission on 30 June 1926, retaining the rank of major. His research and thesis on glaciers in the Antarctic earned him a BA (Research) at Cambridge in 1920. The same year, he co-founded, with fellow Terra Nova expedition member Frank Debenham, the

Scott Polar Research Institute The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is a centre for research into the polar regions and glaciology worldwide. It is a sub-department of the Department of Geography in the University of Cambridge, located on Lensfield Road in the south ...

in Cambridge. In 1922, Priestley was elected fellow of Clare College. In 1924 he joined the university's administrative staff, becoming concurrently assistant registrar, secretary to the board of research studies and secretary-general of the faculties. From the 1930s until his retirement, he held a series of academic and government administrative posts in Australia and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

from 1935 until resigning in 1938 on a matter of principle after one of several confrontations with the Chancellor. He returned to Britain to be Vice-Chancellor of the

(1938–52). He was knighted for Services to Education in the 1949 New Year Honours. During this period he developed an acquaintance with the philosopher

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

, providing him with rooms for discussions and lectures. After retirement in 1952, he served as Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service from 1953 to 1955, as deputy Director of the former Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (later called the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

) from 1955 to 1958, and as president of the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...

(1956). He revisited Antarctica in 1956 and 1959 and in the latter year was awarded the Patron's Medal 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 ...

, for whom he was president from 1961 to 1963.

Personal

He married Phyllis Mary Boyd (d.1961) in April 1915. He was the brother-in-law of fellow ''Terra Nova'' Expedition members C. S. Wright and Thomas Griffith Taylor. He died, aged 87, on 24 June 1974 in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, survived by his two daughters. Items from Priestley are in the collection of Tewkesbury Borough Museum. Papers relating to his period as Vice-Chancellor of University of Melbourne and slides taken during the Terra Nova expedition are held by the University of Melbourne Archives''Priestley, Raymond E.'' (1886-1974).
University of Melbourne Archives. Retrieved 20/12/2023

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Priestley, Raymond 1886 births 1974 deaths Military personnel from Gloucestershire 20th-century British explorers 20th-century British geologists British Army personnel of World War I People from Tewkesbury English polar explorers British explorers of Antarctica Knights Bachelor People of the Scott Polar Research Institute Presidents of the British Science Association Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society Recipients of the Military Cross Terra Nova expedition Vice-chancellors of the University of Birmingham Vice-chancellors of the University of Melbourne Royal Engineers officers Royal Corps of Signals officers