John Riddoch Rymill

John Riddoch Rymill was an Australian polar explorer, who had the rare second clasp added to his polar medal.

Early life

He was born the son of a farmer on March 13, 1905 at Penola, South Australia [ [http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P002031b.htm Australian details] ] and educated at Melbourne Grammar School [ where he first developed his love of polar literature [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110511b.htm ADB on-line] ] and the Royal Geographical Society in London where he studied surveying and navigation .

Polar career

Rymill prepared himself for polar exploration with alpine experience in Europe, flying lessons at the de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd, Hendon and courses at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, under Professor Frank Debenham. In 1931 he was appointed to the British Arctic Air Route Expedition to Greenland (1930-31) as surveyor and pilot. As a result of this, Rymill determined to mount an Antarctic expedition to South Graham Land and the Weddell Sea south of Cape Horn, South America.His British Graham Land Expedition (1934-37) [ [http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/resources/expeditions/bgl/ Expedition Log] ] discovered a southern, permanently frozen channel, later named "King George VI Sound", extending to the Bellingshausen Sea.

Honours

*the British Service Polar Medal with Arctic bar (1930-31)
*Antarctic (1934-37) bars
* Founders' medal (1938) of the Royal Geographical Society
*David Livingstone Centenary gold medal of the American Geographical Society of New York (1939).

'The survey work of this expedition constitutes probably the largest contribution of accurate detailed surveys of the Antarctic Continent made by an expedition'. "Citation of David Livingstone Centenary Gold Medal"

Family

In 1938, after completing the official account of the expedition "Southern Lights", Rymill married Dr Eleanor Mary Francis, a geographer whom he had met at Cambridge. They went to live at and manage the Penola Estate, where he served as a district councillor. He died on the September 7, 1968, survived by his wife and their two sons [ [http://www.antarctic-circle.org/obitsPR.htm Obituary details] ] .

Bibliography

*Béchervaise,J 'Rymill, John Riddoch (1905 - 1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, pp 501-502 [ ADB On line edition(Ibid) ]
*Bertram, G.G.L.Antarctica sixty years ago: a reppraisal of the British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-37 Polar Record, 1996, 32
*Chapman, F. S. Northern Lights (Lond, 1932)
*Chapman, F. S. Watkin's Last Expedition (Lond, 1934)
*Roberts, B.B. The British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-37: scientific papersLondon, British Museum (Natural History), 1940-41, Vol.1
*Rymill, J.R et al papers, diaries of expedition members (Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge 1937)
*Rymill, J.R.Southern Lights Malvern, The Knell Press, 1986 [reprint of 1939 edition]

References