Hussey’s Zither Banjo

banjo

Now in the collection of the Royal Museums of Greenwich:

“Wood, skin and metal zither banjo, inlaid with mother of pearl which belonged to Dr L.D.A. Hussey, the meteorologist on ‘Endurance’. The banjo was rescued from the ship before she sank, crushed by the ice of the Weddell Sea. Hussey played it during morale-raising concert parties organised by the survivors while they awaited rescue on Elephant Island. The banjo has been signed by expedition members and others as follows ‘E.H. Shackleton, Frank Wild, Ruby Page le Brawn, Frank A. Worsley, L. Rickenson, George E. Marston, L.D.A. Hussey, A.H. Macklin, Frank Hurley, A.J. Kerr, F.W. Edwards, J.M. Wordie, T.O. Lees, C. Green, A. Cheetham, R.W. James, L. Greenstreet, Robert S. Clark, Harry McNeish’. The banjo comes complete with a leather carrying case.”

About Ernest Shackleton

Polar Explorer. Leader of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917.
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