Back on the 13th June I asked if you knew how Dundee and the island of South Georgia were linked. Last week Form 2 were studying Antarctic exploration and so many of them now know the answer but for the rest of you, here it is.........
Shackleton's 'Endurance' expedition to the Antarctic in 1914 (which included the epic voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia in a lifeboat) was largely financed by a donation of £24,000 from Sir James Caird. He was a wealthy jute mill owner in Dundee who, during his lifetime , gave much of his money to fund projects such as the building of the Caird Hall (where we will be for prizegiving on Thursday!) and the purchase of land which later would become Caird Park in Dundee. If you click the link above, you can see the letter written by Sir James Caird which accompanied the cheque he sent to Ernest Shackleton. If you enlarge the image on that web page, you will see that it is headed 'Belmont Castle, Meigle'.
