Frederick George Jackson

Frederick George Jackson (6 March 1860 – 13 March 1938) was an English Arctic explorer remembered for his expedition to Franz Josef Land, when he located the missing Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen.

Biography

Early life Jackson was born the son of George Frederick and Mary Elizabeth Jackson at Alcester Lodge, Alcester, Warwickshire, England and educated at Denstone College in Staffordshire and Edinburgh University.

Career His first voyage in Arctic waters was on a whaling cruise in 1886–1887, and in 1893, he made a sledge-journey of 3,000 miles across the frozen tundra of Siberia lying between the Ob and the Pechora. His narrative of this journey was published under the title of The Great Frozen Land (1895).

Jackson–Harmsworth expedition

On his return, he was given the command of the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition of 1894.

The Jackson–Harmsworth expedition proved that Franz Josef Land is nothing more than an archipelago of small islands.

In recognition of his services he received a knighthood of the first class of the Norwegian Royal Order of St Olaf in 1898, and was awarded the gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1899. His account of the expedition was published under the title of A Thousand Days in the Arctic (1899).

Later career Jackson was commissioned as an officer in the 5th (Militia) Battalion, Manchester Regiment as a captain on 5 March 1900. He saw active service in South Africa during the Second Boer War, and following the end of the war, he stayed on as a militia officer in the battalion. He transferred to the 4th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment in 1905, serving in the First World War and reaching the rank of Major. He resigned his commission in 1917. After being invalided home he commanded Southwark Recruiting District for two years, followed by commands of a number of prisoner of war camps in Germany.

His travels also include a journey across the Australian deserts.