Script of the Speech I read to the 16th Annual Shackleton Autumn School.
29th October 2016;

I have to confess, I was really nervous, coming here today and speaking to you all. Indeed, I was really nervous of joining the polar community at all.
As a great-granddaughter of John Vincent, bos’un of Shackleton’s Endurance expedition, I was a little apprehensive about how I would be received.
Vilified for being a bully, and apparently not pulling his weight, the history books have never spoken kindly of my Ancestor.

 The denial of a polar medal, which still causes controversy today has only served to compound the accusations against him.

I confess that until recently that’s all I could have said about him myself.  Having grown up with the story, I was sort of proud that my great-grandfather was a bit of a trouble maker, who made his own rules, and was defiant in the face of authority.

However, I recently started wondering what kind of man he was, and what kind of life he had, and doing this research led to me joining the polar community, and I thank you all for the warm welcome I received. 

 It’s not easy to dispute the history books, but the more I found out about John Vincent from talking to family members, and accessing historical records; I realised what a fascinating life he led, and how misleading some of the books are.

 I don’t have time for much detail today, but I’d just like to highlight a few aspects of his character that have never been appreciated before, and perhaps encourage people to think about him again.

The most important thing about him is that he was, first and foremost, a family man. Born in 1884 in Birmingham, he moved to Hull, and in 1910 married; Alice May Parker. They had several children together, Jack (born in 1910), Cath (1912), Jean (1917) and Walter (1920). You’ll notice that two of the children, John and Cath were born before the expedition sailed in 1914.

 I wonder how many people knew he was a husband and father first.

Obviously the story of Endurance has been well documented, and sadly, though working hard, Vincent didn’t cope as well as he should have on the trip. When he did return home, he went straight back to sea. We believe he was working on an armed trawler escort when his ship was torpedoed- sparking another miraculous survival!

In 1923, his wife Alice was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Their fifth child, Richard was born in October. Alice died just 2 weeks later, she was 34 years old and left behind 5 young children. Sadly, two months later, baby Richard also passed away; probably from the same disease that had claimed his mother. Within the space of a few short weeks. John Vincent’s entire life had been turned upside down.

Though he did find happiness again. With Janet, my great-grandmother.

And another five children appeared; Daisy, Roy, Echan, William and Dawn.
Roy is my grandfather, and was born in 1925, but sadly is no longer with us.

 However, my great- Aunt Dawn, John Vincent’s youngest daughter, is currently still living in America.  
Both of them have recorded fond memories of growing up with their father, and you can only imagine how hurtful some comments are to them.
 
While very happy, the family were never well-off, and it was of utmost importance to Vincent that they were well provided for.  In the 1930’s, A Grimsby trawler, by the name of ‘Girl Pat’ had been taken on an unauthorised round-the-world trip, Vincent offered to skipper a mission to retrieve the vessel- as long as the shipping company provided for his wife and family while he was away.

But I would like to point out, how hard working he was.
Out of many tales, two clear incidents, both of which echo the same story, stand out the most about just how hard he was willing to push himself.  

The first, is the Voyage of the James Caird. In 1916- 800 miles in a tiny boat to raise the alarm, Vincent was chosen as one of the crew to accompany Shackleton.

There are those who say that when making the decision on the crew, Vincent was chosen purely because he was a trouble maker. Well, personally, I believe that Shackleton deserves more credit than that. He was not a man to needlessly endanger his men, and if he didn’t believe Vincent couldn’t help him get there, then he wouldn’t have been taken.

Vincent was a skilled sailor, Shackleton needed a strong crew to make the mission a success. While Vincent broke down, both physically and mentally on the journey, I believe he was probably suffering hyperthermia, and was pushing himself hard to not let the rest of the crew down.

Within the space of about week he goes from being described as the fittest member of crew, to one near death. I think that he pushed himself so hard that it nearly killed him.  

The reason for this belief is a second incident which occurred in 1941- during World War 2, while captain of the minesweeping trawler HMT ‘Alfriedian’. He was taken ill with pneumonia while on-board the ship. Still managing to bring the ship into harbour, he was rushed to the local Navy hospital.
Reports stated that had refused rest, insisting on being at the ship’s wheel when he docked. According to the crew he was almost on his knees when he landed ship safely in Grimsby harbour.
Sadly, this time he had pushed himself too far, and passed away a few days later as a result, leaving the family devastated.
Both incidents show how incredibly hard working he was, to the point where it almost -and eventually did- contribute to his death.

I have many more stories about him, but Sadly, I am running out of time…

So I would like to finish with this;

I think that it’s sad that people are willing to believe some of the history books that make him out to be a just bully.

Because, my family knew him as a different man,  
 A man who believed that everyone should do their fair share.
 A Captain who risked his life during the Grimsby air-raids running to the harbour to ensure the crew of his ship was safe.
 A loving husband and father, who worked hard to provide for his family.
 Perhaps it was even the thought of never seeing them again is what contributed to his break-down on the James Caird.

Vincent spoke highly of Shackleton- both before and after the Endurance expedition. Rumours that he never mentioned it again are untrue.  Sadly he was never commended for his role, which is something that I believe should be put right, and I would dearly love to see him recognised for his efforts.   

Without him pushing himself as hard as he did, some members of Endurance descendants may not be here right now.  I certainly would not be standing here talking to you because without him, the future of our family would have been very different.

The people you read in history books were real people, with many dimensions and that perspective needs to be added into the equation.  Sometimes, their story needs to be told.