Voyage of the Scotia 1902-04

People of the Expedition

Johnnie Smith at Coats Land

Coats Land in Antarctica is named after the brothers Andrew and John Coats of the wealthy Paisley thread-making family, who were the major financial backers of Dr. William S Bruce's Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04, which discovered this previously unknown area of the Antarctic continent early in March 1904.

The expedition's ship Scotia was beset in the ice in this vicinity from 7 to 14 March. This photograph, taken during this anxious period, shows the apparently unconcerned crew member Johnnie Smith, with Coats Land in the background.

Fortunately, the ship was eventually able to escape the clutches of the ice, thereby avoiding the grim prospect of the expedition having to spend the entire Antarctic winter there.