|
| |
Lone Wolf of the Arctic
Profile: Thomas Henry Manning, 1911-1998
By MICHAEL PEAKE
.
Thomas Manning, 1911-1998
|
Thomas Manning, was a quiet Arctic explorer. The English born Manning passed away at Smith's Falls, Ontario in November.
He was a man of a taciturn nature and had it not been for his wife Ella, his exploits would be little known today. Her books Igloo for the Night (1943) and A Summer on Hudson Bay (1949) recounted the couples interesting experiences in the north.
The story of how he and his wife got together is a classic. Manning asked a passing Inuk to take a handwritten message to a local settlement where it was sent by Morse code to Montreal. It was intended for Ella Wallace Jackson, who was known as Jack. The message simply stated, "If wish join me in Cape Dorset for two years and I shall be pleased. Think well. Fools rush in. Charge expenses to me with the Hudson's Bay Company. Extra clothing etc. unnecessary. I shall not be able to receive a reply."
Ella accepted and in 1938 headed north to eventually wed Manning and spend the next 18 months mapping the west coast of Baffin Island.
Like another more famous solitary traveler, John Hornby, Manning was also the son of a well-to-do English father who likewise was a famed cricketer. Unlike Hornby, Manning lived long enough to be well honoured in his field. He was presented with the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, the Massey Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1974
In 1952, Manning and companion, Andrew Macpherson, attempted to paddle around Banks Island by canoe and chart its coast. They were eventually beset by ice at nearly the same spot where Robert McClure was forced to abandon his trip in 1853.
Like McClure, Manning and Macpherson headed overland hauling their supplies on sledges made from barrels left by the McClure party. For two weeks they battled the elements which caused Manning to get snowblindness. They were eventually picked up by a trading boat. The following year, Manning returned to complete the trip.
He bequested $1 million to the new Shakelton Library at Scott Polar Research Institute at his alma mater, Cambridge University and thousands of books to the Iqaluit Library.
This story first appeared in Che-Mun Outfit 96 in 1999.
| |
|
