Perce Blackborow was a Welsh sailor and Antarctic explorer who became the stowaway steward of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition. After the ship was crushed by pack ice, Blackborow survived the ordeal on the ice, at sea, and on Elephant Island, where frostbite led to the amputation of his left toes.
Background
Perce Blackborow was born in Newport, South Wales, a port city whose docks and maritime trade formed an important part of the region's industrial life. He came from a seafaring environment; his father was a ship's steward, and Blackborow entered maritime work while still young.
Before joining Ernest Shackleton's expedition, Blackborow worked aboard the Golden Gate. The vessel was wrecked near Montevideo, leaving him and William Lincoln Bakewell seeking employment in Buenos Aires in 1914. Their circumstances brought Blackborow into contact with the Endurance as it prepared to sail for the Antarctic.
Career
Blackborow worked at sea before the First World War and was aboard the Golden Gate when the ship was wrecked near Montevideo. In Buenos Aires, he attempted to obtain a position on Ernest Shackleton's Endurance but was rejected because of his youth and limited experience. With the assistance of William Lincoln Bakewell and Walter How, he hid in a locker and remained aboard after the ship sailed.
Discovered several days after departure, Blackborow was retained by Shackleton and employed as a steward. The Endurance formed part of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917, whose objective was to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. The expedition belonged to the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, a period when privately organized British and international expeditions combined geographical ambition with maritime and scientific work.
The Endurance became trapped in the Weddell Sea pack ice in January 1915 and was crushed later that year. The crew camped on the drifting ice before reaching Elephant Island in lifeboats in April 1916. Blackborow suffered severe frostbite and gangrene in his left foot; on June 15, 1916, expedition surgeons Alexander Macklin and James McIlroy amputated all of his left toes. He spent about three months in hospital at Punta Arenas, Chile, after the expedition's rescue.
After returning to Wales, Blackborow was rejected for Royal Navy service because of his amputation but joined the Merchant Navy. He served there until 1919 and subsequently worked as a boatman in Newport's Alexandra Docks. He lived in Newport until his death in 1949 from chronic bronchitis and heart disease.
Views
Quotations:
"Introduce him to the cook first."
Personality
Thomas Orde-Lees described Blackborow as conscientious, reliable, competent, and intensely loyal to the expedition. He also noted that Blackborow had a hasty temper that improved during the voyage.
Physical Characteristics:
Blackborow lost all the toes of his left foot to frostbite and gangrene during the expedition.
Quotes from others about the person
Ernest Shackleton's reported warning that a stowaway would be the first person eaten if the expedition ran out of food prompted Blackborow's retort that more meat would be obtained from Shackleton. The exchange became one of the best-known anecdotes associated with his arrival aboard Endurance.
Connections
Blackborow formed enduring friendships with William Lincoln Bakewell and Walter How, the sailors who helped him board the Endurance at Buenos Aires. The three men remained connected after the expedition, and Bakewell later visited Blackborow's family in Wales.
