Hartley T Ferrar

Hartley Ferrar was born in 1879 in Dalkey, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. He lived much of his life in Durban, South Africa before returning to England to be educated, first at Oundle School, Northamptonshire and then as a geologist at Sidney Sussex College Cambridge.

He was appointed to the Discovery expedition a month after his graduation in July 1901. The youngest member of the scientific staff he earned the nickname ‘Our Junior Scientist’. Ferrar took an active part in both exploring and scientific work, taking over the role of sea-water analysis after Shackleton’s departure. His main responsibility was geological surveying of the area, discovering the first fossils in the Western Mountains, in what was then known as the Antarctic mainland.

After Discovery Ferrar went to Egypt to join the geological section of the Survey Department where he remained until 1913 when he went to New Zealand to be Master of Christchurch College.During the First World War he was part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Palestine. In 1919 he joined the New Zealand Geological Survey where he remained until his death in 1932.