Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Polar Medal, one of the world’s most significant treasures from the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, has been gifted to Canterbury Museum by the Adson Trust.
The medal, purchased in a private sale in the United Kingdom, will be displayed in the new and greatly enlarged Antarctic Gallery when the Museum’s Rolleston Avenue buildings reopen towards the end of 2028 after a major five-year redevelopment.
The Adson Trust, a posthumous $10 million bequest left to the Museum by Arthur Henry Harrison, a retired company secretary from Blenheim, is managed by Public Trust. Under the terms of Mr Harrison’s bequest, funds can only be used to acquire objects for the Museum’s collection.
Museum Director | Tumuaki, Anthony Wright says that the Museum is eternally grateful to Mr Harrison for his extraordinary gift which at the time, came as a complete surprise. Without his generosity Shackleton’s Polar Medal would have been well beyond New Zealand’s financial reach.
“This cements Canterbury Museum’s international standing as the repository of one of the most significant collections of heroic age Antarctic objects in the world”, says Wright. “And it underscores Ōtautahi Christchurch’s pivotal role as a gateway to the great southern continent for well over a century.”
“The value of the medal to the Museum is immense,” he says. “It is an iconic object of enormous interest worldwide. As far as we know it has only been exhibited twice – both times in London – since Shackleton died over 100 years ago.
“The redeveloped Canterbury Museum will be the only place that Antarctic enthusiasts, researchers and tourists will be able to see the Polar Medals awarded to two of Antarctica’s most widely recognised explorers, Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton.”
Christchurch has been a gateway to Antarctica for more than 100 years since Scott’s Discovery Expedition (1901–1904). The city’s links with Shackleton were instrumental in the success of his Antarctic expeditions. An estimated 50,000 people turned out to watch the Nimrod sail south from Lyttelton port on New Year’s Day in 1908.
Canterbury Museum became strongly associated with expeditions to the Antarctic in the early 1900s and is now home to the largest collection of heroic age artefacts in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the most significant in the world. The collection includes a range of objects left with the Museum by Antarctic explorers and scientists on their way home.
“Shackleton’s Polar Medal is the biggest donation in the Adson Trust’s history. It carries so much meaning given Christchurch’s long involvement with Antarctic exploration and research, and its direct connection to Shackleton’s story,” says Public Trust Chief Executive, Glenys Talivai.
“The Trust’s benefactor Arthur Henry Harrison had a singular vision for the Adson Trust, and his bequest reflects that he loved spending time at the Museum when he was in Christchurch. As Trustee, it is our privilege and responsibility to ensure his generous and public-spirited intentions are carried out. The donation ensures the medal will be displayed for people to see, learn from and enjoy.
“This is an extraordinary example of how a will can be a powerful tool to support the causes a person cares deeply about and make a lasting impact.”
The Polar Medal, which has three bars, was awarded to Shackleton by Edward VII in 1905 for his participation in Sir Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery Expedition (1902–1904). Shackleton was awarded a second bar in 1909 for his Nimrod Expedition (1907–1909) which was the first expedition to come within 100 miles of the South Pole, and a third in 1917 for the Endurance Expedition (1914–1917).
Given its historic significance, Shackleton’s medal had to be offered to UK institutions before the sale could proceed and an export licence granted. The purchase price and seller are confidential under the terms of the sale agreement.
“Shackleton is one of the greatest, and arguably the most revered Antarctic explorers of all time. His dogged determination to save his men after the Endurance was trapped in pack ice, and the epic voyage of the James Caird lifeboat from Elephant Island to South Georgia – without loss of life – secured his place in history as a great leader,” says Wright.
“Shackleton and the remarkable tale of the Endurance Expedition will be a pivotal story in the Museum’s new Antarctic Gallery.”
In 2015, Canterbury Museum acquired nine of Shackleton’s full-sized medals at auction in London and his set of 12 miniature medals in 2022. The Museum has an example of every medal awarded to the explorer by heads of state and governments. Some are full-size and others are miniatures. None of these have yet been on public display in the Museum.