Sir Clements Robert Markham KCB FRS was an English geographer, explorer, and writer. He was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society between 1863 and 1888, and later served as the Society’s president for a further 12 years. In the latter capacity he was mainly responsible for organising the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1904. Among the geographical features bearing his name is Antarctica’s Mount Markham, named after him by Scott in 1902.
About Clements Markham in brief
Sir Clements Robert Markham KCB FRS was an English geographer, explorer, and writer. He was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society between 1863 and 1888, and later served as the Society’s president for a further 12 years. In the latter capacity he was mainly responsible for organising the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1904, and for launching the polar career of Robert Falcon Scott. Among the geographical features bearing his name is Antarctica’s Mount Markham, named after him by Scott in 1902. Markham was born on 20 July 1830, at Stillingfleet, Yorkshire, the second son of the Reverend David Frederick Markham and Catherine Milner, daughter of Sir William Milner of Nun Appleton Hall, Yorkshire. In 1838 he was appointed rector of Great Horkesley, near Colchester, Essex. A year later, Clements began his schooling, first at Cheam School, and then at Westminster School. He showed particular interest in geology and astronomy, and from an early age he wrote prolifically, an activity which filled much of his spare time. He authored many papers and reports for the RGS, and did much editing and translation work for the Hakluyt Society, of which he also became president in 1890. He received public and academic honours, and was recognised as a major influence on the discipline of geography, although it was acknowledged thatmuch of his work was based on enthusiasm rather than scholarship. In May 1844 he was introduced by his aunt, the Countess of Mansfield, to Rear Admiral Sir George Seymour, a Lord of the Admiralty, and the meeting led to the offer of a cadetship in the Royal Navy.
On 28 June 1844, Markham travelled to Portsmouth to join Seymour’s flagship, HMS Collingwood. The ship reached the Chilean port of Valparaíso, the headquarters of the Pacific station on 15 December 1844. After a cruise that included visits to Rio de Janeiro and the Falkland Islands, and a stormy passage in the Southern Ocean, he was invited to dine with the admiral’s wife and daughters. On 25 June 1846 he passed the main examination for midshipman, being placed in the third group. During the next two years he cruised in the Pacific, visiting the Sandwich Islands and Tahiti, where Markham attempted to assist the nationalist rebels against their French governor. This was his first experience of a country that would prominently figure prominently in his later career in later life. He also served as geographer to Sir Robert Napier’s Abyssinian expeditionary force and was present in 1868, at the fall of Magdala. He continued to champion Scott’s career, to the extent of disregarding or disparaging the achievements of other contemporary explorers. All his life he was a constant traveller and a prolific writer, his works including histories, travel accounts and biographies. He had strong and determined ideas about how the National Antarctic expedition should be organised, and fought hard to ensure that it was run primarily as a naval enterprise, under Scott’s command.
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