Scott Polar Research InstituteOral History Collection
The Polar Library ran an Oral History Programme between 1992-2004.
Twenty-four interviews were conducted by volunteers on an ad-hoc basis with various members of the Polar community who have connections to the Institute.
The original recordings were made on Video tape (AV01-20) and MiniDisc (RS2007). The video recordings have been summarised and transferred to an accessible digital format (MP4). The audio recordings have been transferred from MiniDisc to CDs.
Please contact us for further information about access to the collection.
| Name | Interview date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Ray Adie | 2000 | Geologist with the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey from 1947; Editor of the Journal of Glaciology; subsequently Deputy Director of British Antarctic Survey | AV18 |
| Dr Terence Armstrong | 1993 | Academic with expertise on the Russian Arctic; worked at SPRI 1950-1996 | AV03 |
| Dr Colin Bertram | 2000 | Polar biologist; member of the British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-37; Director of SPRI 1949-1956 | AV14 |
| Ken Blaiklock | 2000 | Surveyor; leader of the advanced party and dog driver on the 1955-58 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition | AV12 |
| Robert (Bob) Burton | 2003 | Explorer, naturalist and historian; Director of the South Georgia Museum, 1994-98 | RS2007/12 |
| Barbara Debenham | 2003 | Daughter of Frank Debenham who was the first director of SPRI | RS2007/06 |
| Rev. Harold Duncan | 1992 | Anglican Missionary; worked at Pond Inlet, Baffin Island 1929-1934 | AV01 |
| Evelyn Forbes | 1993 | Daughter of Hartley Ferrar who was on Scott's 1901-04 Antarctic Expedition | AV02 |
| Sir Vivian (Bunny) Fuchs | 1998 | Geologist and explorer; went to Greenland in 1929; Director of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1946 and of the British Antarctic Survey 1958-1973. Leader of the 1955-58 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition | AV08 |
| Sir Alexander (Sandy) Glen | 1999 | Geographer; leader of the Oxford University Arctic Expedition, 1935-36; spent part of WWII in Svalbard | AV09 |
| Dr John Heap | 2000 | Glaciologist (sea ice); Head of Polar Section in the UK Foreign Office; Director of SPRI 1992-1998. | AV17 |
| Sir Martin Holdgate | 2000 | Member of the Gough Island Scientific Survey, 1955-56; on the staff of SPRI 1960-1963. | AV15 |
| Dr Andrei Kapitsa | 2000 | Russian glaciologist and geomorphologist; on the Soviet Antarctic Expedition, 1949; much further Arctic and Antarctic research. | AV07 |
| Harry King | 2000 | Antarctic historian; Librarian at SPRI from 1955-1983 | AV16 |
| Dr Joseph MacDowall | 2001 | Joint leader of the Royal Society Expedition to Halley Bay, Antarctica, 1955-59 | AV19 |
| Lieut. Commander Robert Moss, R.N. | 2003 | Physicist; Oxford University Arctic Expedition to North East Land, 1935-36 | AV20 |
| Simon Ommanney | 2003 | Glaciologist; Secretary General of the International Glaciological Society, 1993-2003 | RS2007/04 |
| Elizabeth Peake (nee Rought) | 2003 | Cambridge graduate, 1945; Assistant to Frank Debenham, 1945-1953 | RS2007/05 |
| Dr Bernard Stonehouse | 2000 | Polar biologist; has worked in the Antarctic since 1947. Former Editor of Polar Record | AV13 |
| Dr Charles Swithinbank | 1996 | Glaciologist who has worked in many countries, especially in the Antarctic, since 1949 | AV05 |
| Mary Swithinbank | 1998 | Librarian to Vilhjalmur Stefansson at Dartmouth College, USA; born and brought up in Alaska | AV06 |
| Kevin Walton | 2000 | Engineer; author of the book "Two Years in Antarctica" | AV11 |
| Dr Ian Whitaker | 1996 | Saami specialist and ethnographer from Simon Fraser University in Canada | AV04 |
| John Wright | 2000 | Surveyor in many Arctic countries including Iceland, Svalbard and Ellesmere Island | AV10 |
The work of interviewing and filming has been done by volunteers from within and outside the Institute, all trained by Christopher Warren. The Institute thanks Christopher for this invaluable contribution to the programme.
Thanks are also due to The Thriplow and Brian Roberts trusts for help with travelling, filming and other expenses.