Empires in Perspective Class and Colonialism in Antarctic Exploration, 1750–1920 Ben Maddison Number 24 CLASS AND COLONIALISM IN ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION, 1750–1920 Empires in Perspective Series Editor: Durba Ghosh Advisory Editor: Masaie Matsumura Titles in this Series 1 Between Empire and Revolution: A Life of Sidney Bunting, 1873–1936 Allison Drew 2 A Wider Patriotism: Alfred Milner and the British Empire J. Lee Th ompson 3 Missionary Education and Empire in Late Colonial India, 1860–1920 Hayden J. A. Bellenoit 4 Transoceanic Radical, William Duane: National Identity and Empire, 1760–1835 Nigel Little 5 Natural Science and the Origins of the British Empire Sarah Irving 6 Empire of Political Th ought: Indigenous Australians and the Language of Colonial Government Bruce Buchan 7 Th e English Empire in America, 1602–1658: Beyond Jamestown L. H. Roper 8 India in the French Imagination: Peripheral Voices, 1754–1815 Kate Marsh 9 British Narratives of Exploration: Case Studies on the Self and Other Frédéric Regard (ed.) 10 Law and Imperialism: Criminality and Constitution in Colonial India and Victorian England Preeti Nijhar 11 Slaveholders in Jamaica: Colonial Society and Culture during the Era of Abolition Christer Petley 12 Australian Between Empires: Th e Life of Percy Spender David Lowe 13 Th e Th eatre of Empire: Frontier Performances in America, 1750–1860 Douglas S. Harvey 14 Anglo-Spanish Rivalry in Colonial South-East America, 1650–1725 Timothy Paul Grady 15 Royal Patronage, Power and Aesthetics in Princely India Angma Dey Jhala 16 British Engineers and Africa, 1875–1914 Casper Andersen 17 Ireland and Empire, 1692–1770 Charles Ivar McGrath 18 Race and Identity in the Tasman World, 1769–1840 Rachel Standfi eld 19 Th e Quest for the Northwest Passage: Knowledge, Nation and Empire, 1576–1806 Frédéric Regard (ed.) 20 Arctic Exploration in the Nineteenth Century: Discovering the Northwest Passage Frédéric Regard (ed.) 21 Baudin, Napoleon and the Exploration of Australia Nicole Starbuck 22 Medicine and Colonialism: Historical Perspectives in India and South Africa Poonam Bala (ed.) 23 Mercurino di Gattinara and the Creation of the Spanish Empire Rebecca Ard Boone www.pickeringchatto.com/empires CLASS AND COLONIALISM IN ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION, 1750–1920 by Ben Maddison PICKERING & CHATTO 2014 Published by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited 21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH 2252 Ridge Road, Brookfi eld, Vermont 05036-9704, USA www.pickeringchatto.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior permission of the publisher. © Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Ltd 2014 © Ben Maddison 2014 To the best of the Publisher’s knowledge every eff ort has been made to contact relevant copyright holders and to clear any relevant copyright issues.  Any omissions that come to their attention will be remedied in future editions. british library cataloguing in publication data Maddison, Ben, author. Class and colonialism in Antarctic exploration, 1750–1920. – (Empires in perspective) 1. Antarctica – Discovery and exploration. 2. Explorers – History – 18th century. 3. Explorers – History – 19th century. 4. Explorers – History – 20th century. 5. Social status – History – 18th century. 6. Social status – History – 19th century. 7. Social status – History – 20th century. I. Title II. Series 919.8’9’04-dc23 ISBN-13: 9781848934184 e: 9781781440445 ∞ Th is publication is printed on acid-free paper that conforms to the American National Standard for the Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. Typeset by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by CPI Books CONTENTS Acknowledgements ix List of Figures xi Introduction 1 Part I: Colonialism, Capitalism and the Discovery of Antarctica 9 1 Colonialism and the Discovery of Antarctica 11 2 Antarctic Exploration, Colonial Capitalism and Circuits of Necessity, 1776–1850 33 Part II: Class and Antarctic Exploration, 1750–1850 55 3 Th e First Antarctic Working Class 57 4 Exploration as Labour 79 5 Labour as Exploration: Th e Fur Frontier 101 6 Antarctic Exploration and the Dialectics of Power 123 Part III: Imperialism and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, 1890–1920 147 7 New Colonialism in Antarctica 149 8 Work and Class in the ‘Heroic Age’ 167 Concluding Refl ections 193 Notes 199 Works Cited 223 Index 231 For Amanda, who got me started, and Bess, who let me fi nish ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Bradley Bowden, Sharon Crozier-de Rosa, Clive Curzon, Peter Dodson, Miff Fry, Louise Headon, Deborah Lawson, Julia Martinez, Peter Mills, Greg Mortimer, Peter Morris, Larissa Nasmyth, Penny Rossiter, Louise Shepherd, Deb Simmons, SJW, Lorraine Stacey, Frances Steel, Andrew Wells and Penelope Wells for their ongoing support. – ix –