Clarence H. Hare was a native of
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and explorer of
Antarctica. He was part of the shore party at Hut Point in the
Discovery ExpeditionThe British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, generally known as the Discovery Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage sixty years earlier...
of 1901-1903. In this service he narrowly escaped death on
Ross IslandRoss Island is an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica, off the coast of Victoria Land in McMurdo Sound.-Geography:...
on 11-13 March 1902.
Antarctica
Hare was born in December 1880 in
InvercargillInvercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...
, the son of a banker. He began his adult life as a clerk, and was employed in this position in November 1901 when the
RRS DiscoveryThe RRS Discovery was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain. Designed for Antarctic research, she was launched in 1901. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful...
made landfall in his then-home,
Lyttelton-Places:* Lyttelton, New Zealand, a town in New Zealand* Lyttelton, a town in Gauteng Province, South Africa* Leyton Cricket Ground , a cricket ground in Leyton, London-People:...
. The ship dismissed its
wardroomThe wardroom is the mess-cabin of naval commissioned officers above the rank of Midshipman. The term the wardroom is also used to refer to those individuals with the right to occupy that wardroom, meaning "the officers of the wardroom"....
assistant and
stewardA chief steward is the senior unlicensed crew member working in the Steward's Department of a ship. Since there is no purser on most ships in the United States Merchant Marine, the steward is the senior person in the department, whence its name...
in this port, and Hare, who had befriended ship's officer Reginald Ford, was signed on the spot to fill the vacancy on the ship's roster. He soon learned that this assignment meant that he would be the personal steward of the ship's captain,
Robert Falcon ScottCaptain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
. As a ship's captain on a vessel unofficially but firmly run along
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
lines, Scott was rated to have a personal servant. Hare kept his own journal and counsel, observing at one point that his captain was "over sensitive and got worked up if things did not go as planned."
Soon after the expedition landed on Ross Island in March 1902, Hare joined a sledging party who intended to probe the 80-km. length of the island, with their goal that of reaching the other end,
Cape CrozierCape Crozier is the most easterly point of Ross Island in Antarctica. It was discovered in 1841 during James Clark Ross's expedition with HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and was named after Francis Crozier, captain of HMS Terror...
. Hare got physically lost on this icy journey and was in the field, without equipment to camp or build a fire, for forty-eight hours. Hare later confessed that, lonely and discouraged, he had sat down in the snow to die; his life had been saved by a
sled dogSled dogs, known also as sleigh man dogs, sledge dogs, or sleddogs, are highly trained types of dogs that are used to pull a dog sled, a wheel-less vehicle on runners also called a sled or sleigh, over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines.Sled dogs have become a popular winter recreation...
,
Kid, whom Hare (who had no Polar experience) had treated as a sort of pet dog. While this type of contact between humans and sled dogs is not generally recommended, it had encouraged Kid to become affectionate with the human, and in this crisis Kid revived the endangered explorer by licking his face. Eventually, although completely alone, Hare managed to orient himself and return to base.
Hare remained at Hut Point during the winter of 1902, but returned to New Zealand in February 1903 aboard a relief ship, the
Morning. He again signed on to the
Discovery in June 1904 to accompany the captain from New Zealand to London. This was his final Antarctic service; he returned to his native land, and the New Zealand Culture Ministry reports that in later life, the banker's son worked as a piano tuner. When he died in May 1967, he was the final survivor of the Discovery Expedition.
Legacy
Hare PeakHare Peak is an ice-free peak, 2,970 m, at the north end of the ridge forming the east side of Leigh Hunt Glacier, in the Queen Maud Mountains. Named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition for Clarence Hare, a member of the Discovery expedition ....
, a summit of the system of mountains that surmounts the eastern side of the
Leigh Hunt GlacierLeigh Hunt Glacier is a glacier, 7 nautical miles long, flowing north-northwest to enter Brandau Glacier just west of Hare Peak. Named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition for A. Leigh Hunt, founder and first chairman of the New Zealand Antarctic Society....
, was named after Hare in 1962. It is located on the
Dufek CoastDufek Coast is that portion of the coast along the southwest margin of the Ross Ice Shelf between Airdrop Peak on the east side of the Beardmore Glacier and Morris Peak on the east side of Liv Glacier. Named by New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1961 after Rear Admiral George J...
within the
Ross DependencyThe Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south...
, a section of Antarctica that is under the nominal suzerainty of Hare's homeland of New Zealand.