Rare diary could help Cambridge weather students understand climate change
A rare diary, that could help today’s weather students understand climate change today, has been presented to St. John’s college following a major fundraising project by a Cambridgeshire property company.
Endurance Estates made the presentation of a diary kept by Sir Ernest Shackleton’s geologist, Sir James Wordie, a former fellow and master of the college. Wordie’s grandson Alan, was also on hand to make the presentation of the diary which has been in the family since the heroic attempt, led by Shackleton, to cross the Antarctic continent between 1914-16.
When the ship became icebound, Wordie was among those stranded on Elephant Island while Shackleton rowed 800 miles to South Georgia to secure the rescue.
For the first time, the contents of his diary will be made available to members of St. John’s College. A digitised version, set to be released this autumn, will make Wordie’s transcript available to scientists and researchers worldwide, and make research of his observations easier.
It is hoped, by enabling meteorological students to compare temperatures, wind speeds and directions from 100 years ago, the historical data will help inform understanding of climate change today.
The initial funding of the digitisation was led by Tim Holmes, the founder and managing director of Endurance Estates, whose wife is Wordie’s granddaughter.
The property company fundraised to support the printing and digitisation of the family diaries. Its efforts began in 2015 during the centenary of Shackleton’s voyage, when members of the estate’s team joined Wordie’s descendants on a mission to complete the ‘final leg of the voyage’, one hundred years later.
The presentation evening also marked Endurance Estate’s 10th anniversary and saw attendees, including first Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough James Palmer, celebrate Shackleton’s spirit of tenacity, persistence, commitment and trust.
The company takes its name from Shackleton’s ship Endurance, and the explorer’s ethos has informed the approach of the business over its decade-long track record of delivery, including the refurbishment of 90 Hill’s Road, now home to Apple.
Adam Crothers, special collections assistant at St John’s College, said: “We are delighted to receive a copy of Sir James Wordie’s diary, and grateful to Endurance Estates for their commitment to this project. In 1910, Wordie came to the College to study geology and became a fellow in 1921, eventually serving as master from 1952 to 1959.
Grandson Alan added: “My grandfather kept meticulous daily records of weather conditions, details of depths of ice and the continental shelf, calorific value of the food and other scientific observations and we are pleased to create a book incorporating his writings from the time together with various illustrations and maps.
“The digitisation project has been a mammoth effort of collating former scripts and photographs and we are delighted with the result: a splendid hardback version which has been handed over to the college.”
Mr Holmes, said: “We are proud to have supported this initiative which will bring Wordie’s invaluable insights and experiences to a far greater audience. Our business and people have always been inspired by Shackleton’s tenacity, persistence, commitment and trust and we have successfully applied this ethos to the delivery of new housing and commercial projects throughout the East of England. As we mark a decade of success, it is an opportunity to reflect on this spirit of adventure which was the inspiration to launch our business.”
