Website News

A memorial was placed to Wayne Clasen of the government building team, who died in the Falkland Islands a few years ago. More information HERE

In March 2018, during the SGHT Rodent Monitoring project that completed the eradication project, a visit to Prince Olav Harbour enabled the replica grave marker for John Anderson’s grave on pig point to be placed in the correct position. The replica had been placed a few metres away due to fur seal activity at the time, but fortunately a pipe had been used to  mark the correct spot, and a photograph of the original marker allowed the replica to be correctly aligned.

Thanks to Jan-Erik Poulsbo-Mo, who has researched information about some of the men lost when the whaling factory ship Fridjof Nansen sank in 1906.

The ashes of Ben Hodges were scattered at Hope Point on 23 November 2017.

Information about the ashes of Henry Worsley, buried at Grytviken December 2017.

Many thanks to correspondent Bente for some information from the Norwegian archives about Carl Edvardsen, buried in Ocean Harbour in 1920.

Wilhelm Filchner, leader of the German expedition that visited South Georgia with the Deutschland in 1911, describes the Grytviken Cemetery and the circumstances of the loss of Walter Slossarczyk in his book To the Sixth Continent.

Information in the book Pesca by Ian Hart, about Julius Isaksen, the first Norwegian to be buried in the cemetery at Grytviken, in 1906. There are a couple of unmarked graves in the area of the first few graves in the cemetery, so he is most likley buried in grave B6 or B10.

The ashes of Bertie Leask were scattered off Hope Point on 5 August 2016.

Thanks to a relative for a photograph of the youngest daughter of James Hutchison, to add to the family photograph taken before she was born.

Some information about Hans Otto Eliasen from a relative, with a little investigation of historical records, reveals a bit about his short life.

Three photographs taken at the funeral of Henry Andersen at Leith in June 1940.

The ashes of Dr Peter Barker were scattered off Hope Point by his wife Jenny on 5 November 2015. They joined the seas that he had dedicated so much of his life to studying.

Thanks to Geir Rosset for the photograph, taken in or around 1917 by a crewmember of factory ship Thor I, of the Husvik cemetery.

Thanks to Arne Hansen for pointing out that Fensmark is in Denmark and not Norway. The table on the page for Martin L C Rasmussen has been updated accordingly. The Register of Deaths also gives his nationality as Danish.

A message from Angus Robertson‘s great great nephew tells us that he was born in Newry, Ireland in 1898. His mother and father had moved from Scotland to Ireland in 1987. Angus is buried in Stromness cemetery but we have no information about which grave.

Thanks to a family member for sending a photograph and some biographical informatiion about James Hutchison, who died in Leith in 1946.

In December 2014, the concrete surround of the grave of OLSEN, Yngve was relevelled  by GSGSSI Postal Officer and Handyman Hugh Marsden.

There is a photograph of Gunnar Langaas‘s funeral at Grytviken in 1959 in the 1999 book ‘Hvalfangerskirken’ by Svend Einar Hansen (ISBN 82-476-0109-5)

Many thanks (again) to Lex for spotting a description of a funeral in Ludwig Kohl-Larsen’s 1930 book. This gives us enough evidence to confirm that Heikki Marilainen lies in the unmarked grave C2 at Grytviken.

Thanks to Howard Platt for a photograph showing Baron Edward ‘Eddie’ Shackleton visiting his father’s grave in the early 1970s.

Many thanks to the Shetland Museum for permission to use some of their photographs.

A message from his great-grand-nephew tells us that Archibald MacDougall was born in North Uist, Scotland on 26 July 1893, the eldest son of Angus and second wife Margaret.

Thank you to the Edinburgh Library’s Centre for Research Collections for a copy of a telegram from the Manager of Leith Harbour in 1926 informing the magistrate of the unfortunate death of  Mikel Olsen Hauge, a sailor from the Swona, who died whilst making a firework with stolen gunpowder from his ship.

The probable occupants of five unmarked graves at Grytviken have been added to the ‘Explore Grytviken Cemetery‘ page.

Thanks to Geir Røsset for two photographs of a headstone at Prince Olav Harbour main cemetery.

Thanks to Lex for pointing me at three pictures of the unveiling of the headstone on Shackleton’s grave in 1928. I have also found a film clip online showing an early visit to the grave (pre-headstone) and the building of the cairn at Hope Point.

Thanks to Lex van Groningen for pointing out a few minor mistakes, broken links, and typos. These have been fixed.

In her book ‘In the Shadow of Shackleton’s Cross, an Antarctic Memoir’ (2014), Beverley McLeod describes the circumstances of the death of Gunnar Langaas and his funeral procession.

We are now going to publicise changes to the website via Twitter. Click the button to subscribe. Of course you have to have a twitter account yourself.

Photograph of the grave of Kristian Ragnvald Sorensen at Ocean Harbour, taken in 1915, and a 1970s photograph of Grave No. 4, give strong evidence that he lies in that grave.

A new photograph from the Argentine Maritime History and Archaeology website shows the Grytviken cemetery in 1914 or soon afterwards.

Some information about the funeral of Chinese man Ah Seng Lee from Odd Galteland in his book about Stromness, and kindly translated for us by Odd.

Thanks to Odd Galteland for supplying four photographs of a funeral at Husvik.

Some information about the life of Ragnar Been, who is buried in the South Orkneys.

February 2013. Took advantage of the good light to take a few better photographs of some headstones.

The Husvik Grave Book Thanks to the South Georgia Museum for allowing me to copy their copy of the Husvik Grave book that is held at SPRI.

Thanks to Jenny Bonner for a picture of the programme from the funeral of Gunnar Langaas.

Photograph of the funeral of Felix Artuso added.

A scanned copy of the pages of the Sandefjord Whaling Museum’s 1981-86 Yearbook contains the results of Bob Headland’s original research into the cemeteries. A lot of the information on this website, and the cemetery numbering scheme, originates here. Clich HERE for more details.

A photograph of the funeral of Trofin Androchuk at Grytviken in 1929 appears in the book ‘Grytviken seen through a camera lens’.

Finally wrote up ‘Dook’ Whitehouse’s ashes – scattered in Cumberland East Bay in 2003

Information about the ashes of John Mackereth scattered on South Georgia after his death in 1972.

New photograph courtesy of Bob Burton of the funeral of Klaus Oscar BJØRNDAHL.

Thanks to Geir Røsset, who has provided a better quality version of the early photograph of Ole Martin Gullicksen’s grave at Godthul, courtesy of the Halvorsen family/Harald Nilsen. This has allowed a better close-up of the wording engraved on the cross. Geir has more old photographs at his website.

Thanks to Ivan Ward, churchwarden at All Saints Church, Duncannon, Co. Wexford, Ireland, we now know where Major Barrett-Hamilton lies buried.

Information from the the SPRI archive about Gustav Hamalane, buried at Stromness.

A visit to the Jane Cameron Memorial Archive in Stanley, Falkland Islands, resulted in a few bits of extra information:

After a couple of days research in the archives at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge, some new information has been added to a number of articles on this site.

Photograph of Felix Artuso added.

Bob Burton sent a picture postcard he received, depicting the burial of grave C2.

A new section has been added to the website to list places where further information about the cemeteries, deaths etc. may be found. It includes links to other websites and some downloads of more detailed documents.

Added information about the recent (2012) death of cruise ship passenger Eileen Larrimore at Stromness.

A new section has been added to record information about burials and scatterings of ashes.

Bob Burton sent two photographs taken by Bill Vaughan.

Upgraded the underlying software (Joomla) to version 2.5 Simplified the menu system Included the entire 98/99 project newsletters

On Sunday 27 November 2011, the ashes of Frank Wild, polar explorer par excellance, were buried next to ‘The Boss’.

A little information added about Albert Watt, buried in Grytviken in 1962.

Information about nine casualties in 1906 when the factory ship Fritdjof Nansen hit rocks.

An email from his neice Bev Verwoert gives us some more information about Richard Clifton, and a photograph of the grave from a while back, which have been added to the page here.

A new option on the CEMETERY OPTIONS menu, which is displayed at the right of most screens, allows site visitors to send me a message by email.

An email from his granddaughter gives us some information about Michael Smith’s life, which has been added to his page here

The options for each cemetery, on the options menu at the right of the screen,  now include the opportunity to go to the cemetery using Google Maps. There is also a Google maps map with all the cemeteries and burial sites. The existing links that use Google Earth are still there but you need to download the Google Earth program and install it on your computer.

Information about Olaf Olsen in Grytviken Cemetery, from the diary of Frank Hurley, Shackleton’s photogrpher.

In 2010 Karl Heed’s grave in Grytviken was refurbished by Hugh Marsden of the museum team. The grave surround was recast and the lettering was painted in with black paint.

A little research in the Register of Deaths, and use of the Grytviken Explorer, show that there are three possible occupants of Grytviken grave C2. Grave C2 lies between Graves C3 (15 April 1928)  and C1 (3 November 1930). Photographs of the latter funeral show that the grave was already there. According to the Register of Deaths, three people died in this period: HILLESTAD, Reidar (Died 21 October 1928) MARILAINEN, Heikki (Died 8 January 1929) NILSEN, Gunnar Schroder (Died 15 February 1929) Further information in the Magistrate’s records at the Scott Polar Research Institute indicates that Nilsen worked at Prince Olav Harbour and… Read more: Three candidates for Grytviken grave C2 identified

The Page (HERE) that allows you to choose a grave in the Grytviken graveyard has now been finished.

I am very proud to let you know that this website has been selected by the British Library for inclusion in their UK Web Archive. They say:

The UK Web Archive contains websites that publish research, that reflect the diversity of lives, interests and activities throughout the UK, and demonstrate web innovation.

The cemeteries website is being rewritten using new software (Joomla!). Articles are being moved into it bit by bit. The first job has been to move the articles for each grave and then to scan and document the Register of Deaths.

  The following updates were made to the original version of this website, which was replaced in October 2010. DATE CHANGE 02/06/2010 Added info about Anders Olsen in Leith Main cemetery grave D4. 25/01/2009 Added info about Grytviken graves found by Nordenskjold in 1902, with photo. 24/01/2009 Added family information about Eric Einar Palmer-Rimpilä at Grytviken. Added Pallbearers information for Sir Ernest Shackleton. Updated link for Gary Green. 22/06/08 Consolidated menus on all pages (Part I). 19/01/2008 Added photographs of the rediscovered Godthul grave of Ole Martin Gulliksen, courtesy Ken Passfield. 13/12/2006 Updated contact email address Added information about an… Read more: Site Updates from Original Website