Emily Shackleton

Emily, Lady Shackleton (15 May 1868 – 9 June 1936) is best known as the wife of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and the mother of Edward Shackleton, the Labour Party politician. In later life, Lady Shackleton became involved in the Girl Guide movement.

Emily Mary Dorman, later to become Lady Shackleton, was born into a large wealthy family in Sydenham, Kent. She was the youngest of six children, having four brothers and a sister. Emily was friends with a sister of Ernest Shackleton, and was visiting her in 1897 when she first met her future husband. Ernest was home on leave from the Merchant Navy, having just returned from a voyage to Japan. On 9 April 1904 Emily and Ernest were married, and went on to have three children: Raymond, Cecily, and Edward (15 July 1911 - 22 September 1994), himself an explorer and later a politician.

During their marriage, Emily's husband Ernest was frequently away on expeditions in the Antarctic. Emily Shackleton was an important part of her husband's work, she used her social connections to generate the practical and financial support required which enabled him to embark on the British Antarctic Expedition to the South Pole, and later the Imperial Transantarctic Expedition. In her husband's absence, Emily raised their family alone and lived on her independent income. She became interested in the Girl Guiding movement, which formally started around 1910, becoming the Eastbourne divisional Commissioner. The family also benefited from the generosity of philanthropist Janet Stancomb-Wills who assisted in the financing of some of Sir Ernest Shackleton's expeditions. Family life continued in this way until the death of Sir Ernest Shackleton of a heart attack on the island of South Georgia, while en route to Antarctica during the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition.

When Ernest died in South Georgia Emily ensured her husband was remembered in a positive way. She asked his friend Hugh Robert Mill to write his biography “The life of Sir Ernest Shackleton” and helped with the material. She had been left in debt ( about £1.5 million in today's money) and was forced to accept charity. Emily lived frugally and she stayed at their house in Eastbourne before moving to ColdWaltham in West Sussex with her daughter.In 1929 King George granted Emily apartments at Hampton Court where she died in 1936 after a long illness. She was buried in St Giles Church, Coldwaltham, West Sussex.

Emily Shackleton was played by the actress Phoebe Nicholls in the 2002 TV miniseries, starring Kenneth Branagh as her husband, Ernest Shackleton.

The Emily Shackleton collection of papers is held at the Scott Polar Research Institute and comprises correspondence by Emily to family members and others connected with Antarctic exploration and an account of the royal visit to the Nimrod prior to the British Antarctic Expedition.

The National Portrait Gallery holds a bromide snapshot of Emily Shackleton by an unknown photographer, dated 1910.