Object: Memorial Stone 

Date: 20th C

Description: This memorial stone commemorates Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers, the first Scot to the reach the South Pole. He was born in Greenock in 1883 and moved south with his mother Emily and sisters after his father’s death. By 1905 Henry was a junior officer in the Royal Indian Marine and his family had relocated to Bute. When he visited his mother, he explored the island and swam in all weathers. In 1908 he spent 8 months home leave in Scotland. In 1910 he joined Scott’s Terra Nova expedition and in 1912 he was one of the five-man team who reached the South Pole. All five men died on the return journey. The lower part of the memorial depicts Bowers’ burial place, under a cairn near the South Pole.

Origin: The Royal Indian Marine Memorial was originally in the church attended by Emily Bowers and family – St Ninian’s Church. Port Bannatyne. After the closure of the church it was moved to the Museum. An identical copy of the monument is in Bombay Cathedral.