History: Pickfords and the Terra Nova.

A series of fortuitous events has sparked a hunt to find the origins of a photograph linking the UK’s largest removals and storage company, Pickfords to the world famous ship, Terra Nova. The vessel is best known for its voyage under the command of Captain Scott on his ill-fated expedition to be the first to reach the South Pole.

The black and white image, which apparently shows a Pickfords horse and cart delivering Shell motor spirit to the ship, was found by Reason Global’s Graham Puddephatt during a search for images for a BAR conference presentation. Unaware of his find, it was fortunate that Michael Andrews, Pickfords’ Area Manager, was in the audience and spotted the famous connection. 

Following the discovery, Pickfords teamed up with the International Polar Foundation to embark on a rollercoaster search to find the origins of the image.

Michael explains: “At first we thought the image might have been taken just before Scott’s famous British Antarctic Expedition sailed in 1910, but lengthy conversations with archivists at Shell UK, the International Polar Foundation and the Scott Polar Research Institute failed to find any evidence to support our theories.”

Dr Liz Pasteur from the International Polar Foundation takes up the story: “After we drew a blank with the most famous of Terra Nova’s commissions, we started looking a little further afield. After speaking to Terra Nova expert and author Mike Tarver, we were informed that the ship’s name, just about visible in the picture, was not on the hull by the time it was purchased by Scott in 1909, so the photo must have been taken some time before then.

“From what Mike has told us, the most plausible explanation is that the photo was taken at London’s West India Docks in 1905 as the ship prepared to sail on a rescue mission to reach members of the failed Ziegler polar expedition. The US party was stranded north of the Arctic Circle for two years after attempting to reach the North Pole.”

Michael continues: “After speaking to Mike our investigations have led us as far afield as the US descendant of one the Ziegler party and to the Norwegian Polar Institute, but no one can confirm when or where the image was taken; it’s a complete mystery. We’ve run out of leads, so we’re throwing it open to the public to see if we can shed any more light on the origins of the photograph.”

Pickfords has been working closely with the International Polar Foundation throughout 2011 to transport adapted teaching tools and educational puzzles to UK schools learning about the importance of the Polar Regions and climate change.

If anyone has any information on the origins or background of the photograph, they are urged to contact Lyndsey Daykin at Pickfords on 0203 188 2248.

Top image:Pickfords delivering to Terra Nova, above right; Pickfords' Area Manager Michael Andrews and Graham Puddephat of ReasonGlobal present a copy of the image to Dr Liz Pasteur from the International Polar Foundation UK