Hartley T. Ferrar facts for kids

Hartley Travers Ferrar (born January 28, 1879 – died April 1932) was an important geologist. He traveled with Captain Scott on his very first trip to Antarctica. This trip was called the Discovery Expedition.

Early Life and Education

Hartley Ferrar was born in 1879 in Dalkey, near Dublin. His father, John Edgar Ferrar, worked at a bank. His mother was Mary Holmes Hartley.

When he was young, Hartley moved to South Africa with his parents. He went to school in Simonstown, near Cape Town. Later, he returned to England for more schooling. He attended Oundle School and then Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he studied geology, which is the study of Earth's rocks and history.

Hartley was also very good at sports. He played on many teams. Pictures of him with his teams are still kept at his old school and college.

Joining the Antarctic Expedition

After college, Hartley was rowing at a big race called Henley Regatta. There, he was asked to join Captain Scott's first trip to Antarctica. He became the youngest scientist on the team. This was a very exciting opportunity!

He sailed on a ship named the RRS Discovery. While the ship was in New Zealand, he met Gladys Anderson, who would later become his wife.

Adventures in Antarctica

The Discovery then sailed south to Antarctica. They found a good place to anchor in McMurdo Sound in the Ross Sea. The expedition stayed there for two winters. The ship got stuck in the ice and could not move for a whole summer.

Hartley Ferrar was very busy exploring and doing scientific work. He measured how salty the sea water was. His main job was to study the geology of the land. He went on sledging trips with other famous explorers. These included Ernest Shackleton and Dr Wilson.

In the Antarctic summer of 1903, Hartley went on a big sledging trip. He explored the Western Mountains of Victoria Land. He traveled to the Upper Taylor Glacier. There, he found coal deposits high up, at about 8,000 feet.

He also studied a wide layer of sandstone in the area. This layer became known as the Ferrar or Beacon Supergroup layer. The Ferrar Glacier was named after him.

Amazing Fossil Discovery

Hartley Ferrar also made an accidental discovery. He found the first fossils on what was then known as the Antarctic mainland. Many rock samples were brought back to the National History Museum in London. In 1928, Dr W. N. Edwards split open one of these rocks. Inside, he found two fossilized leaves of a plant called Glossopteris indica. This was an important find!

Hartley returned on the Discovery in 1904. He spent the next year writing a report about the geology of the expedition.

Later Career and Legacy

After his Antarctic adventures, Hartley Ferrar worked for the Geological Survey in Egypt. He stayed there until World War I began. He then took his family back to New Zealand. During the war, he served in Palestine. He mainly worked on aerial surveys and intelligence.

After the war, he joined the New Zealand Geological Survey. He did a lot of field work in both the North and South islands of New Zealand. He earned his PhD while working there.

Hartley Ferrar passed away in Wellington in 1932 after an operation. To honor him, Ferrar Peak in the Cloudy Range of the South Island was named after him.

Many items from his polar expeditions are kept in museums. You can find them at the Scott Polar Research Museum in Cambridge. The Canterbury Museum in New Zealand also has some. And, of course, the Discovery ship itself, which is in Dundee in Scotland, holds some of his relics.