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In December 1903 Shackleton applied for the position of secretary of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in Edinburgh.
The young dynamic Shackleton was duly appointed and threw himself into the job with enthusiasm. In one busy season he increased the membership by several hundred, increased the bank balance from £50 to £347 and the attendance at lectures from 250 to more than 1,600. The polar regions predominated on the lecture list allowing him to deliver his own lectures.