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The Terra Nova was an old whaler built in Dundee in 1884. She was 28 years
old at this time but she had a good track record in the ice, having twice
rescued polar parties - in the South in 1903, when she rescued the crew of the
Discovery, including Scott himself, and in the following year in the North,
rescuing Anthony Fiala and his expedition after the sinking of their ship the
America had left them stranded for two Polar winters.
The Terra Nova's reputation alone would be enough to make the vessel of
interest to the Topical Budget cameramen, but the story was magnified by the
outpouring of national grief at the fate of Captain Scott and his companions, as
borne out by the large crowds that gathered in Cardiff to see the ship in.
The item starts with an intertitle declaring that that Lady Scott (the title
seems to have been an invention of the title writers - Scott's widow was not
actually entitled to call herself 'Lady') was there to see the ship dock with
her son Peter. The footage of them on the quay is missing, although they are
almost certainly in the third shot of the ship, in which the captain is shown
addressing a party of ladies and civilian gentlemen. In this shot, taken from
the quayside, we can just see a young boy - Peter? - perched on the gunwale,
then jumping down on to the deck.
The surviving nitrate print of the film is badly damaged, with considerable surface abrasions visible throughout.
Bryony Dixon
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Complete item (0:47)
