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Edward Adrian Wilson (1872-1912)
Edward Adrian Wilson (1872-1912) Edward Adrian Wilson, Antarctic explorer, naturalist, doctor and gifted artist, was born on 23 July 1872 in Cheltenham, England. As a young child, he showed a keen interest in natural history and a talent for drawing. A predominantly self-taught artist, he went on to read Zoology at Cambridge University, taking his degree in 1894. Following some time abroad, he studied medicine, also at Cambridge, and qualified in 1900. Wilson was appointed Junior Surgeon and Zoologist on the National Antarctic Expedition under Commander Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) and set sail on the Discovery in August 1901. Returning in 1904, Wilson wrote up the expedition findings relating to the mammals and birds that had been observed and collected. In the following year, he served on the Committee of Inquiry on Grouse Disease and contributed artwork towards the final report that was published in 1911. Wilson also started work on the illustrations for A History of British Mammals (1910- 1921) by G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, who greatly admired Wilson's Antarctic watercolours. In 1910, Captain Scott invited Wilson to join his
new National Antarctic Expedition on the ship Terra
Nova as chief of the scientific staff. Tragically,
Wilson was one of the team who died with Captain
Scott on the return journey from the South Pole
in March 1912.
The Red
squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) was once
common throughout the British Isles, but has now
been mostly displaced by the North American grey
squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis).
The Edward Wilson Drawings Collection The collection of drawings of British Mammals (c.1905-1910) by Edward Adrian Wilson (1872-1912), was commissioned for A History of British Mammals (1910-1921) by Gerald Edwin Hamilton Barrett-Hamilton (1871-1914) and was continued after the author's death by Martin Alister Campbell Hinton (1883-1961). The Museum purchased this drawings collection in 1987. The collection consists of 50 art originals, of
which 27 were published in A History of British
Mammals (1910-1921).
Exhibition and publication details This drawing has not been on public display.
References and further reading Other artworks of Edward Wilson are also held by the Natural History Museum. Barrett-Hamilton, G. E. H. & Hinton, M. A.C. (1910- 1921) A History of British Mammals. Gurney and Jackson: London. 3 vols. British Antarctic ('Terra Nova') Expedition (1910-1913). Expedition under command of Capt. R.F. Scott. (1914-1964). Natural History Reports. British Museum (Natural History): London. Corbet, G. B. & Harris, S. H. (eds) (1991) The Handbook of British Mammals. 3rd edition. Blackwell Scientific: Oxford. 588pp. Great Britain. Committee of Inquiry on Grouse Disease. Chairman, Lord Lovat & Secretary, A. Stewart Leslie (1911) The Grouse in Health and in Disease: Being the Final Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Grouse Disease. Smith, Elder & Co: London. 2 vols. Rudmose B. R. N. (1927) Wilson, E. A. (1872-1912). Dictionary of National Biography. 1912-1921. Oxford University Press London, 582-583pp. Seaver, G. (1933) Edward Wilson of the Antarctic: Naturalist and Friend. John Murray: London. 299pp. Seaver, G. (1937) Edward Wilson: Nature-Lover. John Murray: London. 221pp. Wilson, D. M. & Elder, D. B. (2000) Cheltenham in Antarctica: The Life of Edward Wilson. Reardon Publishing: Cheltenham. 144pp. Wilson, E. A. & King, H. G. R. (1972) Diary of the "Terra Nova" Expedition to the Antarctic, 1910-1912: An Account of Scott's Last Expedition. Edited from the Original Mss. in the Scott Polar Research Institute and the British Museum. Blandford Press: London. 279pp. Wilson, E. A. & King, H. G. R. (1982) South Pole Odyssey: Selections from the Antarctic Diaries of Edward Wilson. Blandford Press: Poole. 176pp. Wilson, E. A.; edited by Roberts, B. (1967) Edward
Wilson's Birds of the Antarctic. Blandford
Press: London. 191pp.
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