In 2012, the great-grandchildren of Captain James Fairweather enabled the museum to purchase this painting of SY Aurora that he had commissioned in 1884. Built in 1876 in Glasgow, Scotland, for the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company, it was specifically designed to withstand ice. Fairweather captained the vessel in the Arctic for five years from 1883.
In 1910, Aurora was purchased by Douglas Mawson for the Australasian Antarctic Expedition and was later used to rescue the explorer from Cape Denison. In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton acquired the vessel for his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition to carry his supply party to Ross Island. After the Endurance was trapped in the ice and crushed, Aurora rescued the marooned crew in January 1917. Later that year the vessel disappeared without trace whilst transporting a cargo of coal from Newcastle, Australia, to Chile, with the loss of all on board.
Image caption:
The great-grandchildren of Captain Fairweather, Wendy and Charlotte Fairweather, with the painting of SY Aurora. Their donation to the Foundation was made in memory of their father James S Fairweather (1926-2015).