Voyage of the Scotia 1902-04

People of the Expedition

Group on the Coats Land ice with flags in front of the Scotia

Coats Land, a 240km (150-mile) stretch of the coast of the Antarctic continent, was discovered by the 1902-1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, organised and led by Scottish explorer William S Bruce.

The area was named after the Paisley thread-manufacturing family of the two main financial backers of the expedition, Major Andrew Coats and his younger brother James Coats junior. Between them they provided over £30,000 of the £36,405 raised to finance the expedition.

Many of the topographical features explored on the expedition were named by or after members of its personnel or individuals otherwise associated with it, and several of these names (including Coats Land) have survived to the present day as the official names of their respective features.