Percy Blackborow - Biographical notes

Shackleton's Stowaway, Victoria McKernan for ages 12 and up
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W. Perce Blackborow

Steward (stow away) Endurance 1914-17

Perce Blackborow (often given an extra "r" as in Blackborrow) is one of the more interesting and colorful members of the expedition in that he never should have been on board the Endurance in the first place and was a stowaway - possible the only one ever on an Antarctic expedition.

In 1914 he found himself far from home in Buenos Aires without a ship. He met and befriended an American sailor, William Bakewell who was in the same situation. When the Endurance sailed into port and three of the crew were sacked, the two men thought their problems were solved, they both applied for positions on board. Shackleton interviewed them both and Bakewell was accepted where Blackborow was not due to his age (he was only 19 at the time) and lack of seamanship.

He was smuggled on board with the help of Bakewell and How and hidden in a locker where his two friends would take food for him on a regular basis. He was eventually discovered when the Endurance was three days out of South Georgia, Shackleton was unhappy at him being there, but realised he had no choice and offered him a position of steward with the proviso "If anyone has to be eaten, then you will be the first!".

Blackborow was quiet, stocky, quick witted and well liked, he also came to prove himself however as a very conscientiousness sailor.

On the boat journey from where the Endurance sank to Elephant Island, Blackborow made the mistake of wearing leather rather than the cold-weather felt boots that the other men wore and as a result developed frost-bite in his toes that then turned gangrenous. Shackleton realised that Blackborow was suffering on this journey and gave him the honour of being the first person to set foot upon Elephant Island (not just from the Endurance crew, but ever - no-one had landed there before). When they arrived, he was unable to walk ashore and had to crawl through the surf.

Shortly afterwards, he had all of the toes on his left foot amputated by the surgeons Macklin and McIllroy.

"Potash and Perlmutter"

Perce Blackborow became assistant to Green the expedition cook, in the galley, first aboard ship and on the ice, working the longest days of any on the expedition on a regular basis, from early morning till evening, preparing meals for 28 hungry men.

When on the ice, they cooked on a stove that was heated by burning seal or penguin blubber, a very smoky fuel which gave them permanently blackened faces and earned them the nicknames of "Potash and Perlmutter".

(I am unable to find out why these names were given. "Potash and Perlmutter" were a series of stories written by Montague Glass, a glove salesman, in the early 1900's about a pair of Jewish tailors, they became a series of comedies, initially stage plays and then from the mid 1920's films by MGM - any insights appreciated. My guess is that the names for given for their characteristics, rather than appearance).

Perce Blackborow was born in Newport, South Wales, the son of a ship's steward.

On return from the Antarctic, Blackborow spent three months in a hospital in Punta Arenas, Chile, recovering from the frostbite damage sustained to his left foot. On return home to South Wales, he was somewhat overwhelmed by the welcome party awaiting him at his local railway station and instead, crossed the tracks and went out of the other side of the station.

He volunteered for war service in the Royal Navy, but was turned down due to the amputation of the toes of his left foot. He was accepted by the Merchant Navy where he served until 1919 after which he became a boatman in the local docks in Newport. He married a local girl Kate Kearns and they lived in Newport producing six children, unfortunately two of them died in childhood though.

Perhaps more so than any of the other expedition members, Blackborow was moulded by his experiences as he was so young at the time, the youngest on board by over two years.

The friendship with Walter How and William Bakewell who smuggled him aboard the Endurance lasted long after the men had returned. Even after Blackborow's death, Bakewell who had come over from Canada made a visit to Wales to meet his family.

Perce Blackborow died at home in Newport, of Chronic Bronchitis and Heart disease at the age of 54.

References to Perce Blackborow in Shackleton's book "South!" buy USA buy UK

The Stancomb Wills came up and McIlroy reported that Blackborrow's feet were very badly frost-bitten. This was unfortunate, but nothing could be done. Most of the people were frost-bitten to some extent, and it was interesting to notice that the "oldtimers," Wild, Crean, Hurley, and I, were all right. Apparently we were acclimatized to ordinary Antarctic temperature, though we learned later that we were not immune.

This was the first landing ever made on Elephant Island, and a thought came to me that the honour should belong to the youngest member of the Expedition, so I told Blackborrow to jump over. He seemed to be in a state almost of coma, and in order to avoid delay I helped him, perhaps a little roughly, over the side of the boat. He promptly sat down in the surf and did not move. Then I suddenly realized what I had forgotten, that both his feet were frost-bitten badly. Some of us jumped over and pulled him into a dry place. It was a rather rough experience for Blackborrow, but, anyhow, he is now able to say that he was the first man to sit on Elephant Island. Possibly at the time he would have been willing to forgo any distinction of the kind.

Then I discussed with Wild and Worsley the chances of reaching South Georgia before the winter locked the seas against us. Some effort had to be made to secure relief. Privation and exposure had left their mark on the party, and the health and mental condition of several men were causing me serious anxiety. Blackborrow's feet, which had been frost-bitten during the boat journey, were in a bad way, and the two doctors feared that an operation would be necessary. They told me that the toes would have to be amputated unless animation could be restored within a short period

McIlroy and Macklin were both anxious to go but realized that their duty lay on the island with the sick men. They suggested that I should take Blackborrow in order that he might have shelter and warmth as quickly as possible, but I had to veto this idea. It would be hard enough for fit men to live in the boat. Indeed, I did not see how a sick man, lying helpless in the bottom of the boat, could possibly survive in the heavy weather we were sure to encounter.

The first consideration, which was even more important than that of food, was to provide shelter. The semi-starvation during the drift on the ice-floe, added to the exposure in the boats, and the inclemencies of the weather encountered after our landing on Elephant Island, had left its mark on a good many of them. Rickenson, who bore up gamely to the last, collapsed from heart-failure. Blackborrow and Hudson could not move. All were frost-bitten in varying degrees and their clothes, which had been worn continuously for six months, were much the worse for wear.

The two remaining boats had been turned upside down with one gunwale resting on the snow, and the other raised about two feet on rocks and cases, and under these the sailors and some of the scientists, with the two invalids, Rickenson and Blackborrow, found head-cover at least. Shelter from the weather and warmth to dry their clothes was imperative, so Wild hastened the excavation of the ice-cave in the slope which had been started before I left.

Once they were settled in their hut, the health of the party was quite good. Of course, they were all a bit weak, some were light-headed, all were frost-bitten, and others, later, had attacks of heart failure. Blackborrow, whose toes were so badly frost-bitten in the boats, had to have all five amputated while on the island. With insufficient instruments and no proper means of sterilizing them, the operation, carried out as it was in a dark, grimy hut, with only a blubber-stove to keep up the temperature and with an outside temperature well below freezing, speaks volumes for the skill and initiative of the surgeons. I am glad to be able to say that the operation was very successful, and after a little treatment ashore, very kindly given by the Chilian doctors at Punta Arenas, he has now completely recovered and walks with only a slight limp.

"Soon the boat approached near enough for the Boss, who was standing up in the bows, to shout to Wild, ‘Are you all well?' To which he replied, ‘All safe, all well,' and we could see a smile light up the Boss's face as he said, ‘Thank God!'

"Before he could land he threw ashore handsful of cigarettes and tobacco; and these the smokers, who for two months had been trying to find solace in such substitutes as seaweed, finely chopped pipe-bowls, seal meat, and sennegrass, grasped greedily.

"Blackborrow, who could not walk, had been carried to a high rock and propped up in his sleeping-bag, so that he could view the wonderful scene.

Endurance
Personnel

Summary

Bakewell, William
Able Seaman

Blackborow, Percy
Steward (stowaway)

Cheetham, Alfred
Third Officer

Clark, Robert S.
Biologist

Crean, Thomas
Second Officer

Green, Charles J.
Cook

Greenstreet, Lionel
First Officer

Holness, Ernest
Fireman

How, Walter E.
Able Seaman

Hudson, Hubert T.
Navigator