Gino Watkins

Henry George "Gino" Watkins (29 January 1907 – c. 20 August 1932) was a British Arctic explorer.

Born in London, he was educated at Lancing College and acquired a love of mountaineering and the outdoors from his father through holidays in the Alps, the Tyrol and the English Lake District. He became interested in polar exploration while studying at the University of Cambridge under the tutelage of James Wordie and organised his first expedition, to Edgeøya, in the summer of 1927.Ann Savours, ‘Watkins, Henry George (1907–1932)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36763 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36763] , accessed 4 March 2008]

In 1928-9, Watkins made an expedition to Labrador, where he explored much previously unmapped territory, including Snegamook Lake.Ann Savours, ‘Watkins, Henry George (1907–1932)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36763 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36763] , accessed 4 March 2008] However, his most important expedition was the British Arctic air route expedition of 1930–31. Watkins led a team of fourteen men to survey the east coast of Greenland and monitor weather conditions there, the information being needed for a planned air route from England to Winnipeg.Ann Savours, ‘Watkins, Henry George (1907–1932)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36763 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36763] , accessed 4 March 2008] In addition to meeting these aims, the expedition discovered the Skaergaard intrusion,cite web
url=http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/gsl/geoscientist/features/page3007.html
author=Glasby, Geoff
title=Geological Society - Skaergaard, Everest and more...
publisher=www.geolsoc.org.uk
accessdate=2008-03-04] and Watkins and two companions made a 600 mile open boat journey around the south coast of Greenland. The expedition won Watkins a Founders Medal from the Royal Geographical Society, and brought him international fame.Ann Savours, ‘Watkins, Henry George (1907–1932)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36763 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36763] , accessed 4 March 2008]

Watkins next attempted to organise an expedition to cross Antarctica, but in the depths of the Great Depression finance proved impossible to raise. Instead he returned to Greenland in 1932 with a small team to continue the work of his air route expedition. On 20 August he went hunting for seals in his kayak in Tugtilik Fjord and did not return. Later that day, his empty kayak was found floating upside down by his companions. His body was never found.Ann Savours, ‘Watkins, Henry George (1907–1932)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36763 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36763] , accessed 4 March 2008]

Watkins is commemorated by the "Gino Watkins Memorial Fund", managed by the Royal Geographical Society and the University of Cambridge, which provides grants for polar exploration. cite web
url=http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/about/funding/ginowatkins/
author=
title=The Gino Watkins Memorial Fund
publisher=Scott Polar Research Institute
accessdate=2008-03-04]

Further reading

*cite book |title=Gino Watkins |last=Scott |first=James Maurice |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1935 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |location= |isbn=0340008873 |pages=
*cite book |title=Gino Watkins |last=Ridgway |first=John |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1974 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location= |isbn=978-0192731364 |pages=

References

External links

* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp52627&rNo=0&role=sit Photograph of Gino Watkins] at the National Portrait Gallery