Celebrating a major gift to Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum for the Wilson Family Collection
Wednesday 3 February
12.00 – 1.00
Dr Edward Adrian Wilson, a leading member of Captain Scott’s two National Antarctic Expeditions and who died with him at the Pole, came from Cheltenham. His statue stands on the Promenade.
We have recently been given an important collection of material relating to Edward Wilson. This includes family scrapbooks documenting his journey to the Pole, as well as life in Cheltenham, sketches by Wilson who was the artist on the expedition, and an almost complete transcript of the penultimate letter from him to his wife Oriana written in March 1912 (the original destroyed). These were bought at a Bonhams sale in the autumn by David Wilson, Edward’s great nephew with the support of 33 donors, including the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust and Cheltenham Local History Society. The press launch will be the first chance to see this new collection, and will also provide an opportunity to meet Dr David Wilson and the Chairman of the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust, Mrs Philippa Foster Back OBE, whose grandfather, Frank Debenham was a geologist on Scott’s Last Expedition.
There will be an opportunity for press photography of the new acquisitions and also in the Edward Wilson Gallery.
Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum has a small gallery devoted to Edward Wilson which includes his sledge, snow suit, skis and other belongings, including the pocket watch found on his body, shown against an Antarctic landscape based on one of his paintings. Many of these items were presented by the Wilson family soon after his death. The Wilson Family Collection was given to the Art Gallery & Museum by the Wilson family and includes photographs of the family, miniature portraits, the typewritten memoir by his father of Edward Wilson’s life, letters, copies of the South Polar Times and other material relating to the Antarctic, and delightful scrapbooks of drawings and watercolours made by Edward Wilson for his parents.
We hope to display selections from the Wilson Family Archive in our new Open Archive planned as part of Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum's development scheme, Building for a new Future.