Terra Nova Expedition. A scrapbook album compiled by W. P. Granville, electrical engineer, which includes two autograph letters signed by Sir George Simpson, meteorologist for Captain Scott's Antarctic Terra Nova Expedition, 1910-1913, the first letter on British Antarctic Expedition Terra Nova R.Y.S. letterhead, 'at sea', 27 November 1910, 'Dear Mr Granville, the small case of balloons reached us safely in Christchurch. I thought it best not to open it before absolutely necessary, but I have no doubt that the balloons will be in good condition. We are now really on our way south although we call at Duneden tomorrow to take 100 ton of coal on board. We have had a splendid passage so far and we are a real happy party. Everyone has the highest hopes of a successful expedition and I am sure that there will be a lot of good scientific work done. Please let me again thank you most heartily for all the valuable help you and your firm have given us . Yours very sincerely, George C. Simpson'; the second letter is on 68 Wilson Street, Derby letterhead, 7 June 1912, 'Dear Mr Granville, I expect to be in London at the beginning of next week and intend to call on you to thank you for the balloons and to tell you about the work done with them. You will be glad to hear that they were absolutely splendid and gave me no trouble at all. I have a great deal to do in London and may not be able to call on Monday & Tuesday, but I will not leave England before seeing you. Yours very truly, George C. Simpson', the letters are accompanied by two mounted photographs (albumen or similar) showing experiments with a balloon during the expedition, each measuring 118mm by 82mm [Simpson constructed one of the continent's first weather stations, conducting balloon experiments to test the atmosphere and determine how altitude affects temperature]. The album includes a variety of other material of varying subject matter and date, including a letter from Willoughby Smith, electrical engineer, on Wharf Road letterhead, 23 May 1873, instructing Granville to 'embark on board the "Great Eastern" to assist in the laying of the cable between Ireland and Newfoundland', and to receive further instructions from a Mr Laws [the SS Great Eastern was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and was used to lay the first lasting transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866]; advertisements and contemporary newspaper clippings relating to 'Granville's Electric Log', manufactured by Elliott Brothers; newspaper clippings relating to the development of submarine cable and wireless; two pencil drawings by Granville depicting Bawi Island, Zanzibar, 1879, and Placentia Newfoundland, 1873; clippings relating to Granville as Chairman of the London Congregational Union, including a printed address given on 2 November 1915; an albumen print taken by Granville, together with a printed article reproducing his photograph in The Sketch, 28 August 1895, 'swinging a man on to the rock', relating to the laying of cable for the Fastnet Lighthouse, Ireland, plus other clippings from printed works reproducing Granville's photographs; clippings of Vesper Hymn sheet music, written & composed by Granville and Colchester; five original photographs, including Kelvin Lodge, Browning Avenue and Bournemouth Gardens, 1924, and other material on a total of 37 pages, the album being partially-filled. Together with two sparsely-filled scrapbooks recording the electioneering and campaigning of Henry Granville Hamshar, 1932-39, including printed flyers, ephemera, newspaper clippings and notes, and a manuscript book of religious verse kept by Margaret M. Hamshar, 1903 (4)
Provenance: Granville family, by descent
Realised Price: £No Entry
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