James Key Caird

James Key Caird was born on 7 January 1837 in Dundee. He became a jute manufacturer and made a substantial fortune by introducing new technology into his jute mills in Ashton and Craigie, near Dundee. A generous benefactor and philanthropist, he helped to finance the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1916 (leader Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton), causing Shackleton to name for him the lifeboat in which he and his companions made their epic sixteen-day voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia. He was knighted and created a baronet in 1913. He died on 9 March 1916.

From the guide to the James Caird collection, 1914, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)