Since writing both The steam yacht SY Aurora and The Mystery of the S.S. Douglas Mawson, I see that I had previously written about the grave of Sir Douglas Mawson for the April 2012 newsletter of the Marine Life Society of South Australia.
Since that article hasn’t been posted online at all, or has been lost, I thought that I would reproduce it here now: -
The Grave of Sir Douglas Mawson
The exploits of Sir Douglas Mawson are fairly well-known in South Australia. Mawson participated in three expeditions to Antarctica in the early 1900s, including leading an expedition himself. He was knighted in 1914 for his leadership of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-14. He had been the Chair of the SA Museum board for 6 years when he died on 14th October 1958. He had suffered a small stroke in September and his speech was affected for a few days. His speech was almost back to normal when a second, more severe stroke struck him on 13th October, leaving him unconscious. He died at home at 9pm on the following day, surrounded by his family. He was given a Commonwealth state funeral and was buried in St Jude’s Cemetery at Brighton.
Here are some photos of Mawson’s grave, along with some memorials to him: -
(Both photos taken by Steve Reynolds)
Here are some close-ups of the plaque on the rock again: -
More details regarding the life of Sir Douglas Mawson can be found at http://www.mawson.sa.gov.au/ie.htm .
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