Sir Ernest Shackleton's barometer is FOUND after 102 years: Instrument which ... trends now
If you've always dreamed of owning a stunning piece of British nautical history, now is your chance – but it won't come cheap.
A barometer owned by the legendary Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton is up for auction later this month, and is expected to fetch up to £8,000.
The 4.5-inch scientific instrument measures air pressure and was fixed to the wall of Shackleton's private cabin on the ship R.Y.S Quest.
It was here where the explorer died in January 1922 from suspected heart failure during an expedition to the Antarctic, at the age of just 47.
Amazingly, after more than 100 years, the barometer still works.
A barometer that was used by famous explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton on his final expedition is up for auction later this month - and it could fetch £8,000
Photo of Sir Ernest Shackleton on board the 'Quest'. The legendary Anglo-Irish explorer died in his cabin on board the Quest while it was anchored off South Georgia. He was 47 years old
Dr Leonard Hussey, the medic who tried to save Shackleton in his cabin, later took the barometer as a keepsake to remember him by.
Dr Hussey gave the device to a friend, a Major Woods, and a descendant of his has now offered it for sale.
It is being auctioned by Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers, an auction house based in Devizes, Wiltshire.
A spokesperson told MailOnline that bidding starts at £5,000, but the expected sale price is anywhere from £5,000 to £8,000.
'Sir Ernest Shackleton has been called "the greatest leader that ever came on God's Earth bar none",' said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge.
'This unique piece of memorabilia provides a tangible link to not only his final expedition but the last moments of this greatest of men.'
It's believed Dr Hussey gave Major Woods the barometer in the 1930s.
The current owner is now in his 60s and remembers the object as a boy.
But it has 'literally been in a drawer for the last 20 years', according to the auction house spokesman.
The lot, which is being sold on April 27, includes a letter written by Major Woods when he was gifted the object.
It reads: 'This aneroid barometer was taken to the Antarctic on the Shackleton-Rowett Antarctic Expedition 1921–22 and was screwed up in Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Cabin on R.Y.S. Quest, given to me by Dr L.D.A. Hussey.'
The barometer is accompanied by a letter stating: 'This aneroid barometer was taken to the Antarctic on the Shackleton-Rowett Antarctic Expedition 1921–22 and was screwed up in Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Cabin on R.Y.S. Quest, given to me by Dr L.D.A. Hussey'
The ship Quest used in the Ernest Shackleton expedition to Antarctica, arrives at St Katharine's Dock from Southampton, ahead of voyage, 1921
The barometer was manufactured by Short and Mason, an equipment maker founded in London in 1864.
It was fixed to the wall of Shackleton's private cabin on the ship R.Y.S Quest during an expedition to the Antarctic in December 1921.
Shackleton led the Quest expedition to circumnavigate the Antarctic continent six years after his legendary ship the Endurance sank.
Just before Quest left Rio de Janeiro for the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, Shackleton suffered a suspected heart attack but declared himself better the next morning.
However, during the two week voyage, Shackleton was seen to drink heavily to deaden the pain he was in, namely with champagne.
Dr Alexander Macklin, who was on watch on the evening of January 5, 1922, had visited
