Alfred Stephenson
Alfred Stephenson
Biography
Stephenson was born in Norwich, England and was educated at Norwich School.[1] At age 12 he attended a public lecture given by Ernest Shackleton which inspired his interest in the polar regions.[1] He went on to study geography at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge where he befriended Frank Debenham who had been on the Terra Nova Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott between 1910 and 1913.[2]
Following graduation Stephenson joined the British Arctic Air Route Expedition to Greenland as chief surveyor. In often difficult polar conditions the expedition surveyed a strategic area of Greenland valuable to the Great Circle air route between the British Isles and North America, work for which Stephenson was awarded the Polar Medal.[2] Despite his inexperience as a climber he held the altitude record of Mont Forel at 10,950 ft with his companion Lawrence Wager for many years,[1] even though they were not able to reach the 11,099 ft high summit owing to the ice dome at the top.[3]
In 1932 he was a member of the British Polar Year Expedition. In 1934 he was chief surveyor and meteorologist of the
During the
Legacy
Mount Stephenson, the highest peak (3,100 m) in the Douglas Range of Antarctica, and Stephenson Nunatak, in the southeast part of Alexander Island, as well as Stephenson Island (Greenland), are named after him.[2]
References
- ^ S2CID 233318906. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
- ^ a b c d Codling, Rosamunde (20 July 1999). "Obituary: Alfred Stephenson". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- ^ The Swiss Expedition to Greenland 1938. André Roch