Clements Markham

Markham was born on 20 July 1830, at Stillingfleet, now in North Yorkshire, the second son of the Reverend David Frederick Markham, then vicar of Stillingfleet. The family were descendants of William Markham, former Archbishop of York and royal tutor; this Court connection led to David Markham's appointment, in 1827, as an honorary canon of Windsor. Markham's mother Catherine, née Milner, was the daughter of Sir William Milner, 4th Baronet, of Nun Appleton Hall, Yorkshire. In 1838, David Markham was appointed rector of Great Horkesley, near Colchester, Essex. At Westminster, which he found "a wonderful and delightful place", he developed a particular interest in boating, often acting as coxswain in races on the River Thames. == Royal Navy ==

Naval cadet, 1844–1850 In May 1844, Markham was introduced by his aunt, the Countess of Mansfield, to Rear Admiral Sir George Seymour, a Lord of the Admiralty. The boy made a favourable impression on the admiral, and the meeting led to the offer of a cadetship in the Royal Navy. Accordingly, on 28 June 1844, Markham travelled to Portsmouth to join Seymour's flagship, . Collingwood was being fitted out for an extended voyage to the Pacific Ocean where Seymour was to assume command of the Pacific station. This tour of duty lasted for almost four years. The ship reached the Chilean port of Valparaíso, the headquarters of the Pacific station on 15 December 1844, after a cruise that incorporated visits to Rio de Janeiro and the Falkland Islands, and a stormy passage in the Southern Ocean. After a few weeks' respite in Valparaiso, Collingwood sailed again, this time for Callao, the main port on the Peruvian coast, giving Markham his first experience of a country that would figure prominently in his later career. During the next two years Collingwood cruised in the Pacific, visiting the Sandwich Islands, Mexico, and Tahiti, where Markham attempted to assist the nationalist rebels against their French governor. On 25 June 1846, Markham passed the examination for midshipman, being placed third in a group of ten. The long periods spent in Chilean and Peruvian ports had also enabled him to learn Spanish. After a brief period of service in the Mediterranean Markham experienced months of inactivity while based at Spithead and the Cove of Cork, which further diminished his interest in the service. However, early in 1850, he learned that a squadron of four ships was being assembled to undertake a new search for the lost Arctic expedition of Sir John Franklin. Markham used his family's influence to secure a place in this venture, and in April 1850, was informed of his appointment to , one of the squadron's two principal vessels. First Arctic voyage, 1850–1851 Sir John Franklin had left England in May 1845 with two ships, and , in search of the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The expedition was last seen on 29 July, by whalers in the northern waters of Baffin Bay, moored to an ice floe and waiting for the chance to sail westward. The hunt for the missing ships began two years later. The relief squadron which Markham joined was commanded by Captain Horatio Austin in . Markham's ship Assistance was captained by Erasmus Ommanney. Markham, as the youngest member of the expedition and its only midshipman, had a limited role, but carefully noted every detail of expedition life in his journal. The ships sailed on 4 May 1850. in 1850 After rounding the southernmost point of Greenland on 28 May, the squadron proceeded northwards until stopped by ice in Melville Bay on 25 June. They were held here until 18 August, when they were finally able to proceed west into Lancaster Sound, the known route taken by Franklin. Here the ships dispersed to search different areas for signs of the vanished expedition. On 23 August, Ommanney sighted a cairn, and discovered packing materials nearby which bore the name of "Goldner", Franklin's canned meat supplier. Together with other odds and ends of abandoned equipment, these fragments were the first traces of Franklin that anyone had found. When spring returned, a series of sledging expeditions was launched to search for further signs of the missing crews. Markham played a full part in these activities, which produced no further evidence of Franklin, but led to the mapping of hundreds of miles of previously uncharted coast. The expedition returned to England in early October 1851. Immediately on his return to England, Markham informed his father of his determination to leave the navy. One of the reasons for his disaffection was the severity of the corporal punishment that was constantly administered for what in his view were trivial offences. He had been in trouble during his Collingwood service for attempting to prevent the flogging of a crewman. He had also become disenchanted by the idleness that had occupied long periods of his service. With some regret the elder Markham consented to his son's request, and after taking and passing the gunnery part of the examination for the rank of lieutenant, Markham resigned from the service at the end of 1851. == Peruvian journeys ==

First journey, 1852–1853 , Peru, with Mount Misti in the background In the summer of 1852, freed from his naval obligations, Markham made plans for an extended visit to Peru. Supported by a gift from his father of £500 (more than £40,000 at 2008 values) to cover expenses, Markham sailed from Liverpool on 20 August. On the way, Markham paused for nearly a month in the town of Ayacucho, to study the local culture and increase his knowledge of the Quechua people. He then travelled on towards Cuzco, and after crossing a swinging bridge—the Apurimac Bridge—suspended above the raging Apurímac River, he and his party passed through fertile valleys which brought them finally to the city of Cuzco, on 20 March 1853. Markham remained in the city for several weeks, researching Inca history, describing in his journal the many buildings and ruins that he visited. During the course of an excursion to nearby towns and ruins he reached the area of San Miguel, La Mar, Ayacucho, where he first learned of the properties of the cinchona plant, a source of quinine, cultivated in that vicinity. He finally left Cuzco on 18 May, accompanied by a party of six who, like him, were returning to Lima. Their journey took them southwards, descending the mountains to the city of Arequipa, a former Spanish colonial settlement with a mixture of native and European architecture. The city is overlooked by the conical volcano Mount Misti, which Markham likened to Mount Fuji in Japan. On 23 June, the party reached Lima, where Markham learned of the death of his father. He departed for England, where he arrived on 17 September. Cinchona mission, 1859–1861 The idea of introducing cinchona to India was first made in 1813, by W. Ainslie, and, years later, in 1839, John Forbes Royle suggested that it could be tried in the Nilgiris. The Indian government was spending £7000 a year around 1852 when Royle made a proposal to introduce cinchona to India. By coincidence Markham was a civil servant in the India Office, and in 1859 he made proposals to his employers for a scheme for collecting cinchona trees from the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, and transplanting them to selected sites in India. Cinchona bark, a source of quinine, was the first known treatment for malaria and other tropical diseases. These plans were approved and Markham was placed in charge of the operation. Markham and his team, which included the botanist Richard Spruce and his future brother-in-law, the New Zealander Charles Bowen, left England for Peru in December 1859, arriving in Lima late in January 1860. There was danger in their enterprise; Peru and Bolivia were on the verge of war, and Markham's party soon experienced the hostility of Peruvian interests anxious to protect their control over the cinchona trade. This limited his sphere of operations, and prevented him from obtaining specimens of the best quality. Later Markham overcame bureaucratic obstruction to obtain the necessary export licences. Markham returned briefly to England before sailing to India, to select suitable sites for cinchona plantations there and in Burma (now Myanmar) and Ceylon. Although many of the Indian plantations failed to flourish and were soon destroyed by insects, == Civil servant, geographer, traveller ==

India Office, 1857–1867 After the death of his father in 1853 Markham needed paid employment, and in December 1853 secured a junior clerkship in the Legacy Duty Office of the Inland Revenue at a salary of £90 per annum (around £6,000 in 2008). In April 1857, Markham married Minna Chichester, who accompanied him on the cinchona mission to Peru and India. Their only child, a daughter Mary Louise (known as May), was born in 1859. As part of his India Office duties Markham investigated and reported to the Indian government on the introduction of Peruvian cotton into the Madras Presidency, on the growth of ipecacuanha in Brazil and the possibilities for cultivating this medicinal plant in India, and on the future of the pearl industry at Tirunelveli in Southern India. He was also involved in an ambitious plan for the transplanting of Brazilian rubber trees, claiming that he would "do for the india-rubber or caoutchouc-yielding trees what had already been done with such happy results for the cinchona trees." Abyssinia, 1867–1868 , Abyssinian campaign commander In 1867, Markham was selected to accompany Sir Robert Napier's military expeditionary force to Abyssinia, as the expedition's geographer. This force was despatched by the British government as a response to actions taken by the Abyssinian King Theodore. In 1862, the king had written to the British government requesting help to modernise his nation, and proposing the appointment of an ambassador, which the British had previously suggested. Unwilling to risk its monopoly of cotton in Egypt, the British government did not reply. The king reacted to this slight and other snubs by seizing and imprisoning the British consul and his staff, and ordered the arrest and whipping of a missionary who had insulted the king's mother. Markham added that although the king's misdeeds had been numerous and his cruelties horrible, he had finally died as a hero. On the orders of General Napier, Magdala was burnt to the ground, its native and foreign guns destroyed and the accumulated treasures in the fortress looted. The British troops then departed, and Markham was back in England in July 1868. For his services to this campaign Markham was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1871. Second Arctic voyage, 1875–1876 Markham had, through his various activities, come to know many influential people, and during the early 1870s used these connections to make the case for a Royal Naval Arctic expedition. Prime minister Benjamin Disraeli consented, in the "spirit of maritime enterprise that has ever distinguished the English people". When the expedition was ready to sail, Markham was invited to accompany it as far as Greenland, on , one of the expedition's three ships. Markham accepted, and left with the convoy on 29 March 1875. He was gone for three months, remaining with Alert as far as Disko Island in Baffin Bay. He wrote of this journey: "I never had a happier cruise ... a nobler set of fellows never sailed together." He returned to England on the support vessel , although the homeward voyage was delayed after Valorous struck a reef and required substantial repairs. Markham's extended absence from his India Office duties, together with his increasing involvement in a range of other interests, caused his superiors to request his resignation. Markham retired from his post in 1877, his 22 years of service entitling him to a pension. In the following spring a sledging party led by Markham's cousin, Commander Albert Hastings Markham, achieved a record Farthest North at 83° 20'. == Royal Geographical Society ==

Honorary secretary, 1863–1888 In November 1854, Markham had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. The Society soon became the centre of his geographical interests, and in 1863 he was appointed its honorary secretary, a position he was to hold for 25 years. Markham conducted the Geographical Magazine from 1872 to 1878, when it became merged in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. Markham maintained his interest in the navy, particularly in the training of its officers. He often visited the merchant officer training vessels, and HMS Worcester, and became a member of the latter's governing body. In early 1887 he accepted an invitation from his cousin Albert Markham, who now commanded the Royal Navy's training squadron, to join the squadron at its station in the West Indies. Markham spent three months aboard the flagship , during which, on 1 March 1887, he had his first encounter with Robert Falcon Scott, who was serving as a midshipman aboard HMS Rover. Scott was victorious in a race between cutters, an event that was noted and remembered by Markham. President, 1893–1905 In May 1888, Markham resigned from his position as RGS Secretary, finding himself at odds with the Society's new policies which appeared to favour education over exploration. On his retirement he was awarded the Society's Founder's Medal for what were described at the presentation ceremony as his "incomparable services to the Society". The next few years were filled with travel and writing. There were further cruises with the training squadron, and extended visits to the Baltic and the Mediterranean. In 1893, during the course of one of these journeys, Markham was elected in absentia president of the society. This unexpected elevation was the result of a dispute within the Society over the question of women members, about which Markham had kept silent. When in July 1893, the issue was put to a special general meeting, the proposal to admit women was narrowly defeated despite an overwhelming postal ballot in favour. In these circumstances the Society's President, Sir M. E. Grant Duff, resigned his office. The 22 existing women members were allowed to remain, but no more were admitted until January 1913 when the RGS changed its policy. Although Markham was not the first choice as a replacement for Grant Duff—other notable figures were approached—he had kept out of the women members controversy and was broadly acceptable to the membership. Shortly after his accession to the presidency, in recognition of his services to geography Markham was promoted Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and became Sir Clements Markham. there had been no significant Antarctic exploration by any country since Sir James Clark Ross's expedition fifty years previously. A new impetus was provided through a lecture given to the RGS in 1893, by the oceanographer John Murray, calling for "an expedition to resolve the outstanding questions still posed in the south." In response to Murray the RGS and the Royal Society formed a joint committee, to campaign for a British Antarctic expedition. although the "Instructions to the Commander", drawn up by Markham, give equal priorities to geographical and scientific work. The "science versus adventure" arguments were renewed when, after the return of the expedition, there was criticism over the accuracy and professionalism of some of its scientific results. Markham faced further problems in securing funding for the expedition. In 1898, after three years' effort, only a fraction of what was required had been promised. Meanwhile, the Anglo-Norwegian explorer Carsten Borchgrevink had obtained a sum of £40,000 (over £3 million in 2008) He was equally hostile to William Speirs Bruce, the Scottish explorer who had written to Markham asking to join the National Antarctic Expedition. On receiving no confirmation of an appointment, Bruce obtained finance from the Scottish Coats baronets family and organised his own Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. Markham accused Bruce of "mischievous rivalry", and of attempting to "cripple the National Expedition ... in order to get up a scheme for yourself". The Scottish expedition duly sailed, but Markham remained unforgiving towards it, and used his influence to ensure that its participants received no Polar Medals on their return. A substantial private donation and a government grant finally allowed the National Antarctic Expedition to proceed. A new ship, the , was built, and a mainly naval crew of officers and crewmen appointed, along with a scientific staff which was later described as "underpowered". Discovery sailed on 5 August 1901, after an inspection by King Edward VII, at which Markham was present to introduce Scott and the officers. The ship was gone for just over three years during which time, from a base in the Ross Sea area, significant explorations of this sector of Antarctica were carried out, along with an extensive scientific programme. Although it was reported by the Times as "one of the most successful [expeditions] that ever ventured into the Polar regions, north or south," it was largely ignored by the government of the day. Markham was criticised in official quarters for privately sanctioning a second season in the Antarctic, contrary to the original plan, and then being unable to raise funds for the expedition's relief in 1904. The cost for this had to be borne on His Majesty's Treasury. == Later life ==

Shackleton and Scott A few months after the Discoverys return, Markham announced his retirement from the RGS presidency. He was 75 years old; according to his biographer he felt that his active geographical life was now over. His 12 years in the presidency was the longest period on record. He remained a member of the RGS Council, a vice-president, and he kept an active interest in Antarctic exploration, particularly in the two British expeditions which set out in the five years following his retirement. These were led respectively by Ernest Shackleton and Scott. Markham had agreed to Shackleton's appointment as third officer on the Discovery following a recommendation from the expedition's principal private donor. He had given sympathy and support after Shackleton's early return from the expedition on grounds of ill health, and had backed the latter's unsuccessful application for a Royal Navy commission. Later, after Shackleton had confided his intention to lead an expedition of his own, Markham supplied a generous testimonial, describing Shackleton as "well-fitted to have charge of men in an enterprise involving hardship and peril", and "admirably fitted for the leader[ship] of a Polar Expedition." He expressed strong support for Shackleton's 1907–1909 Nimrod expedition: "... not only my most cordial wishes for your success will accompany you, but also a well-founded hope." When news of the expedition's achievement of a new Farthest South latitude of 88°23' reached him, Markham publicly signified his intention to propose Shackleton for the RGS Patron's Medal. Whatever his reason, Markham adopted a bitterness towards Shackleton which he retained for the rest of his life. He is said to have crossed out all favourable references to Shackleton in his own notes on the Discovery expedition, and to have virtually ignored Shackleton's achievements in a 1912 address to the British Association. He was equally dismissive in his history of Antarctic exploration, The Lands of Silence, published posthumously in 1921. By contrast, Markham remained on close personal terms with Scott and was godfather to the explorer's son, born 14 September 1909 and named Peter Markham Scott in the old man's honour. In his tribute to Scott in the preface to ''Scott's Last Expedition'' (1913), Markham describes Scott as "among the most remarkable men of our time", and talks of the "beauty" of his character. As Scott lay dying "there was no thought for himself, only the earnest thought to give comfort and consolation to others." In one of the last letters written from his final camp, days from death, Scott wrote: "Tell Sir Clements I thought much of him, and never regretted his putting me in command of the 'Discovery'." Retirement in 1913 and of which a photogravure was made by Emery Walker. It includes a statuette of a polar explorer on the table and a painting of a cinchona plant on the wall. After his retirement from the RGS presidency, Markham led an active life as a writer and traveller. He wrote biographies of the English kings Edward IV and Richard III, and of his old naval friend Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock; he also kept up his editing and translating work. He continued to produce papers for the RGS, and remained president of the Hakluyt Society until 1910. Markham was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge and University of Leeds. In conferring this latter degree, the Chancellor referred to Markham as "a veteran in the service of mankind", and recalled that he had been "for sixty years the inspiration of English geographical science." However, Markham did not altogether avoid controversy. In 1912, when Roald Amundsen, conqueror of the South Pole, was invited by RGS president Leonard Darwin to dine with the Society, Markham resigned his council seat in protest. The news of the death of Scott and his returning polar party reached Markham in February 1913, while he was staying in Estoril. He returned to England, and assisted with the preparation of Scott's journals for publication. Scott's death was a heavy blow, but Markham continued to lead a busy life of writing and travelling. In 1915, he was present at the service in St Peter's Church, Binton, near Stratford-upon-Avon, where a window was dedicated to Scott and his companions; later that year he assisted at the unveiling of the Royal Navy's statue of Scott, in Waterloo Place, London. Markham read his last paper for the RGS on 10 June 1915, its title being "The History of the Gradual Development of the Groundwork of Geographical Science". == Death and legacy ==

On 29 January 1916, while reading in bed by candlelight, Markham set fire to the bedclothes and was overcome by smoke. He died the following day. The family received tributes from King George V, who acknowledged the debt the country owed to Markham's life work of study and research; from the Royal Geographical Society and the other learned bodies with which Markham had been associated; from the Naval Commander-in-Chief at Devonport; and from Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian Arctic explorer. Other messages were received from France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, the United States, and from Arequipa in Peru. while William Speirs Bruce wrote of Markham's "malicious opposition to the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition". Bruce's colleague Robert Rudmose-Brown went further, calling Markham "that old fool and humbug". These protestations reflected Markham's protective attitude towards Scott; according to Bruce, "Scott was Markham's protégé, and Markham thought it necessary, in order to uphold Scott, that I should be obliterated". He added that "Scott and I were always good friends, in spite of Markham." It has been suggested that Markham's prejudices about polar travel, particularly his belief in the "nobility" of manhauling, had been passed to Scott, to the detriment of all future British expeditions. Mill's measured opinion, that Markham was "an enthusiast rather than a scholar", has been asserted as a fair summary of his strengths and weaknesses, and as the basis for his influence on the discipline of geography in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. The Markham River in Papua New Guinea was named after him; Carsten Borchgrevink discovered and named Markham Island in the Ross Sea during his 1900 expedition, a gesture that was not, however, acknowledged by Markham. The name lives on in Lima, Peru, through Markham College, a private co-educational school. Minna Bluff, a promontory extending into the Ross Ice Shelf, was named by Scott for Lady Markham. The plant genus Markhamia was named after Markham by the German botanist Berthold Carl Seemann in 1863. Markham's estate was valued for probate purposes at £7,740 (2008 equivalent £376,000). == Portrayal in media ==

Markham was portrayed by the character actor Geoffrey Chater in the BBC TV miniseries Shackleton in 1983, and by Alexander Knox in the Central Television serial The Last Place on Earth in 1985. == Writings ==

Markham was a prolific writer and diarist; his first published work, an account of his voyage with HMS Assistance in search of Franklin, had appeared in 1853. After his retirement from the India office in 1877, writing became his chief source of income. In addition to papers and reports for the Royal Geographical Society and other learned bodies, Markham wrote histories, biographies and travel accounts, many as full-length books. He also translated many works from Spanish to English, and compiled a grammar and dictionary for the Quichua language of Peru. His books include the following: • ''Franklin's Footsteps'' (1852) London, Chapman and Hall • Cuzco ... and Lima (1856) London, Chapman and Hall • Travels in Peru and India (1862) London, John Murray • Contribution Toward a Grammar and Dictionary of Quichua (1864) London, Trubner & Co, • A History of the Abyssinian Expedition (1869) London, Macmillan • A Life of the Great Lord Fairfax (1870) London, Macmillan • Ollanta: an ancient Ynca drama (1871) London, Trubner & Co • A memoir of the Lady Ana de Osorio, countess of Chinchon and vice-queen of Peru (A. D. 1629–39) with a plea for the correct spelling of the Chinchona genus (1874) London, Trubner & Co • General Sketch of the History of Persia (1874) London, Longman Green • The Threshold of the Unknown Regions(1875) London, Samson Low • Narrative of the mission of George Bogle to Tibet (1877) London, Trubner & Co • A Memoir of the Indian Surveys (1878) London, W.H. Allen • Peruvian Bark (1880) London, John Murray • The Voyages of William Baffin, 1612–1622 (1881) London, Hakluyt Society • The War between Peru and Chile, 1879–1882 (1882) London, Samson Low • A narrative of the life of Admiral John Markham (1883) London, Low Marston Searle & Rivington • The Sea Fathers (1885) London, Cassell • Life of Robert Fairfax of Steeton, Vice-admiral (1885) London, MacMillan & Co, • The Fighting Veres (1888) London, Samson Low • The Life of John Davis the Navigator (1889) London, George Philip and Son • The Life of Christopher Columbus (1892) London, George Philip and Son • The History of Peru (1892) Chicago, Charles H Sergel • Major James Rennel and the Rise of Modern English Geography (1895) London, Cassell & Co • The paladins of Edwin the Great (1896) London, Adam & Charles Black • Richard III: his life and character (1906) London, Smith, Elder & Co • The Story of Minorca and Majorca (1909) London, Smith, Elder & Co • The Incas of Peru (1912) London, John Murray • The Lands of Silence (completed by F.H.H. Guillemard, 1921) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press The conquest of New Granada (1912, reprint 1971) == References ==