Accession Number

2012.007.001.115

Description

One black and white photograph of a three-masted ship surrounded by snow and ice.

Narrative

This photograph depicts the ship "Endurance" stuck in the ice near Antarctica in 1915. Sir Ernest Shackleton was the Captain of the vessel, which was used on the Imperial Trans-Arctic Expedition. No lives were lost in the sinking. The wreck was discovered in 2022 in the Weddell Sea, and is in a good state of preservation. 

The reason for the presence of this photograph in this Dunsmuir family album is a mystery. It might have been included simply because the story of the stranding and eventual sinking of Endurance had widespread interest.  

History of Use

This photograph was taken in 1915 and placed in an album started by the James and Laura Dunsmuir family at Burleith, their home on Victoria's Gorge Waterway. In 1906, the album was probably taken by the family to Victoria's Government House where they lived while James served as British Columbia's eighth Lieutenant Governor. From there it was taken to the family's new house, Hatley Park, in 1910.

Sometime after Laura Miller Dunsmuir's death in 1937, the album became the property of Dola Frances Dunsmuir (also known as Mrs. Dola Cavendish) and was kept at her house Dolaura in Colwood, B.C. After hear death, the album was owned by her sister Kathleen's daughter, Judith Humphreys (also known as Mrs. Judith Joy). Her daughter donated the album to Craigdarroch Castle in 2012.

Date

1915

Dimensions

11.7 x 9.1 cm

Country of Origin

Antarctica