History Revealed

The Villa belongs at once to the story of Shackleton and to the wider history of South Georgia’s whaling stations. It speaks of management, labour, domesticity, and industrial ambition, as well as of rescue and remembrance.
Like many historic places, it has also been reinterpreted over time. Scholarship has complicated earlier assumptions about the building’s history, reminding us that heritage is not fixed but continually tested against evidence.

Historic changes to buildings feature renovations and upgrades – these happen even in South Georgia on a whaling station. Although many objects have been taken from the Villa over the years, those that remain can reveal some small domestic histories.
Objects discovered during the stabilisation were often hidden in eaves and cupboards, away from easy access. In many ways they beg more questions than they reveal. Who put them there and for what purpose? Did the depositor forget they were there? And did they intend to come back for them?
How the stabilisation revealed insight into how the building was constructed. Description of construction – what is it made of; flat-pack; etc.

Image gallery of objects and traces found during stabilisation

Text: Objects and traces of builders, fire, etc
Magazines and paper-based objects – During the stabilisation works, objects were revealed behind tongue and grove boards. It is believed that in times past, anything that was available would have been used as lining or draft exclusion. Especially magazines or newspapers that had been read and were not likely to be re-read often.
Graffiti – Throughout the whaling station there is graffiti all over. This exists not only from more recent adventures into the whaling stations, but from the whaling era itself. Within the building there were a number of places where graffiti was found. The most puzzling instance was from the late 19th century. Given that the Manager’s Villa was only built in the early 20th century, this seems a strange edition. Perhaps the board was recycled from somewhere else. Perhaps it was a birthday of someone, or maybe a prank!
Scorched board – Stories and near misses are concealed within the fabric of the building. Behind where a chimney had been, the team found a scorched board, suggesting that a fire broke out at some point of the villa’s life. Fires did happen on the whaling stations, and with there being no fire service, it is wholly more difficult to deal with both in the moment and in the aftermath. At the neighbouring Grytviken whaling station, a fire erupted from the upstairs of the Manager’s Villa which burnt the structure to the ground. A new villa was erected in 1914 in its place.

Objects found at the Villa during conservation

Mariner’s cap – This cap would have been used in South Georgia to keep the wind and weather from the head of its wearer. This cap has other names, most commonly Greek cap as it was popularised there in the 1800s. It has a close connection to seafarers and would have been a common sight around the whaling stations and ships with their maritime links. It may even be possible that this was bought from one of the ‘slop chests’ (stores) on South Georgia. Missing from Museum objects

Hartshorn blind – This object was found in a roof cavity of the Manager’s Villa. It is an interesting object, as it must have reached the end of its life for the room it was being used in. The blind is an early roller blind, with gorgeous deep blue material for the blind. Its production can be traced to an exact date – 1915. One year before Shackleton arrived in Stromness. Missing from Dropbox (Museum objects)

Flensing knife blade – This object was found in the Manager’s Villa. A tangible link to the whaling process. Flensing knives were used to strip the blubber from whales, so it could be peeled back and cut into smaller pieces to be processed into oil. The knives were attached to long wooden sticks for reach.