Sir Ernest Shackleton & the Hull Connection

By faith | 10/12/2025

Sir Ernest Shackleton and the Hull Connection … Five Crew Members had connections to the port.

Ernest Shackleton, the ‘boss’ of the Antarctic explorer whose Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition from 1914 to 1917, is one of the world’s best-known explorers and this polar foray forms one of the most incredible stories of polar survival.

Shackleton reaches furthest south prior to Roald Amundsen and Captain Scott getting to the South Pole in 1911 and 1912 respectively.

He returns to the Antarctic continent several times before his most incredible journey which coincided with the First World War.

Many locations claim to have a connection to Shackleton in some way, yet probably none more so than Hull.

Crew from Hull

It is thought no less than five crew members connected with Hull were on board the Endurance and survived against almost insurmountable odds.

These include, according to the Ship’s Manifest: Ernest Holness (engine stoker) nickname Holie; William Stephenson (fireman) nickname Steve; John Vincent (able seaman) nickname Bo’sun; Alfred Cheetham (Third Officer and an Antarctic veteran) nickname Alf; and Charles Green, the ship’s cook, whose nickname is Doughballs.

Frank Wild, Shackleton’s right-hand man, also hails from the north of England: from Skelton, not too far from Whitby.

The Endurance & the Expedition

Shackleton’s expedition aims to complete the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent, from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea and visiting the South Pole ‘en-route’ by using dogs and man-power.

A second vessel, the Aurora, under Captain Mackintosh, sails for the Ross Sea and the plan (achieved) involves laying supplies ready for Shackleton’s overland teams.

They took up quarters at Cape Evans, which is famous for being the location for Captain Scott’s hut.

The Aurora and her men had their own adventures which you can read here.

Crossing the Continent

Shackleton’s notion is a bold and brave one: and it is not completed until the 1950s with the Sir Vivien Fuchs Expedition, who uses mechanised transport as well as man-power to traverse the coldest place on earth.

As the First World War broke out, Winston Churchill gave Shackleton permission to continue his journey south.

On 5^th December 1914, the Endurance leaves South Georgia and crosses the Antarctic Circle on 30^th December.

As 1915 dawns, things start to take a different turn as the Endurance becomes ice-locked.

The crew stay on board for the Antarctic winter and in October 1915, they abandon ship, taking the three life boats – James Caird, Dudley Docker and Stancomb Wills – with them.

The Endurance meets her watery grave on 21^st November 1915.

They set up camp alongside the boats on the drifting ice until April 1916 when the ice finally melts.

There follows the incredible journey to Elephant Island, a bleak, remote and uninhabited island.

Elephant Island is a dot in the vast Southern Ocean, but one which would help save their lives.

As the island is uninhabited, Shackleton decides to take five men – Worsley, Crean, McNish, McCarthy and Vincent – in the James Caird, sailing to South Georgia.

An unimaginable 17 days later, they land on the west coast of South Georgia.

Their open boat journey defies the imagination: 800 miles of vast, turbulent and dangerous seas.

Three of the men set off to cross the island (again, something that hadn’t been attempted before) to reach Grytviken, the whaling station where help would hopefully lie in plenty.

On reaching the whaling port, it wasn’t until August of 1916 that the Elephant Island men were rescued.

Hull Men

With its maritime connections and tough trawlermen, it is perhaps no wonder that Shackleton saw their worth with their connections to the ‘great port of Hull’.

Charles Green has the important role of ship’s cook.

The original cook was fired and Green got the job following an interview with Shackleton.

Green is a trained baker and pastry cook; his ingredients were somewhat different in the Antarctic, including seal and penguin meat!

Originally hailing from Surrey, he married in Hull and later moved to Beverley.

Ernest Holness famously fell into the icy waters and was rescued by Shackleton.

Holness bemoans the loss of his tobacco during the incident: “… only thing I’m thinking about is my baccy I’d left in the bag;”

Holness was one of thirteen children, and was 21 years old when he joined the expedition.

John Vincent, originally from land-locked Birmingham, is perhaps the strongest man on the expedition.

A trained boxer, his strength was something Shackleton perhaps thought to be an advantage on James Caird.

Originally recruited as ship’s bosun, he was reportedly demoted to able seaman following several clashes with other crew members.

Alfred Cheetham, who’d served with Shackleton on an earlier expedition, hails from Liverpool, but spent his formative years on the other side of England in Hull.

He lived with his family in Bean Street, off Anlaby Road.

Antarctic Veteran

Cheetham sailed with Shackleton in the earlier Discovery Expedition, and also served under Captain Scott in his ill-fated British Antarctic Expedition.

Unfortunately, Scott and four companions, having reached the South Pole, perish on the return journey.

Frank Worsley recalls: ‘On this particular night Cheetham the third mate let his pipe go out in the height of the gale, and persuaded me to give him a match to himself.

“The others were so indignant at this that later, when misfortune had again overtaken his pipe and he tried to cadge another, I refused. Seeing how crest-fallen he was, however, I had not the heart to keep one from him, and said, “Look here, I’ll sell you one.” “Right, sir,” said Cheetham; “What price?”

“A bottle of champagne,” I replied, laughing in spite of myself. “Done, sir,” he retorted; “as soon as I get back to Hull and open my little pub the champagne’s yours.”

He was aged 47 when he joined the Endurance expedition

William Stephenson hailed from Hull and lived in De La Pole Terrace, off Bean Street.

Butting Heads

Reading the accounts of this expedition, there are recollections and opinions that, perhaps unsurprisingly, men showed signs of discontent and even ignored orders issued by senior crew members.

While to many of us this might be understandable, given the conditions the men found themselves in, following orders could mean the difference between life and death.

One of the men who disrespected Shackleton was Vincent.

He is one of three Hull men who didn’t receive Polar Medals for their efforts, the others being Holness and Stephenson.

The Three Lifeboats

One of the crew, Wordie, listed the men that would row in the three lifeboats, as follows:

James Caird

Boss [Shackleton]; Wild; Vincent; McArty; McNeish; Clark; Hurley; Wordie; Hussy; James; Green.

Dudley Docker

Worsley; Greenstreet; Cheetham; McLeod; Macklin; Kerr; Holness; Lees; Marston.

Stancomb Wills

Hudson; Crean; Howe; Bakewell; Rickinson; McIlroy; Stephenson; Blackbarrow.

Therefore, each lifeboat has a Hull-connected man on board.

The Wreck of the Endurance

Endurance is discovered in 2022 (one hundred years following Shackleton’s early death in 1922 on South Georgia).

The last known position of the Endurance was logged by the ship’s captain, Frank Worsley, and the Endurance22 expedition used some of this information to help locate the wreck.

The submerged vessel was found on 5^th March 2022.