Why Did Levick Leave His Personal Items Behind?

By Stefanie White

George Murray Levick, surgeon and zoologist on Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition (1910-1913) was a member of the Northern Party who spent the summer of 1911 – 1912 at Cape Adare. Recently, Conservator, Stefanie White has completed the conservation of a collection of clothing from Cape Adare and several of these items have been labelled with Levick’s name. From his socks, we can summise that levick’s feet were at least 25cm in length; from his collar, his neck measurement was at least 46 cm; and from his belt, his waist was at least 66cm while at Cape Adare.

Why did Levick not take these personal items when he left Cape Adare? Did he suffer from forgetfulness or misplace his possessions? Perhaps, this explains why he also left his photography notebook at Cape Evans, or perhaps it is because Levick thought he would one day return to Cape Adare. In January 1912, Levick together with the Northern Party were collected by the Terra Nova and dropped off at Inexpressible Island to carry out scientific field work before being picked up again. However, the Terra Nova was unable to return to inexpressible island and collect Levick and his five colleagues. The Northern Party never returned to Cape Adare and Levick’s personal clothing never again claimed.