John Rymill

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John Riddoch Rymill (13 March 1905 – 7 September 1968) was an

polar explorer, who had the rare second clasp added to his Polar Medal
.

Early life

Rymill was born at

Frank Rymill. He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School, where he first developed his love of polar literature, and at the Royal Geographical Society in London, where he studied surveying and navigation.[1][2]

Polar career

Rymill prepared himself for polar exploration with alpine experience in Europe, flying lessons at the

1932-33 East Greenland Expedition led by Gino Watkins[3] and which he led after Watkins' death in Tuttilik Fjord.[4]

As a result of these Arctic experiences, Rymill determined to mount an Antarctic expedition to South

British Graham Land Expedition (1934–37)[6] discovered a southern, permanently frozen channel, later named George VI Sound, extending to the Bellingshausen Sea.[2]

Honours

Rymill Coast in Palmer Land and Rymill Bay in Graham Land, Antarctica, were named after him.

Family

In 1938, after completing the official account of the expedition Southern Lights, Rymill married Dr. Eleanor Mary Francis (17 June 1911 – 14 April 2003), a geographer whom he had met at Cambridge. They returned to Australia to live at and manage the Old Penola Estate,[7] and Rymill served as a district councillor. During World War II he was commissioned in the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve. He died on 7 September 1968, like his father, as the result of a car accident, survived by his wife and their two sons and was buried at New Penola cemetery.[2][8][9]

Bibliography

  • Bertram, G.G.L. Antarctica sixty years ago: a reappraisal of the British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-37 Polar Record, 1996, 32
  • Chapman, F. S., Northern Lights (Lond., 1932)
  • Chapman, F. S. Watkin's Last Expedition (Lond., 1934)
  • Roberts, B.B. The British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-37: scientific papers, London, British Museum (Natural History), 1940–41, Vol. 1
  • Rymill, J.R. et al. Papers, diaries of expedition members (Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge 1937)
  • Rymill, J.R. Southern Lights Malvern, The Knell Press, 1986 [reprint of 1939 edition]

References

  1. ^ "Rymill, John Riddoch (1905–1968)". Bright Sparcs. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  2. ^
    ISSN 1833-7538
    . Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  3. ^ East Greenland Expedition (Pan Am) 1932 -33
  4. S2CID 251051734
    . Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Antarctic Exploration". The Border Watch. Mount Gambier, SA: National Library of Australia. 6 June 1953. p. 10. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  6. ^ "British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-37". Scott Polar Research Institute. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  7. The Chronicle
    . Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 9 December 1954. p. 23. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  8. ^ "Rymill, John Riddoch (1905–1968)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  9. ^ "Antarctic Obituaries". The Antarctic Circle. Retrieved 19 October 2008.