Scott, Kathleen, 1958-

Kathleen Scott (nee Bruce) was born at Carlton-in-Lindrick, near Worksop, on 27 March 1878, eleventh child of the Reverend Lloyd Bruce. She studied art at the Slade School of Art in London and also at the Academie Colarossi in Paris, (where she learnt to sculpt with Rodin) and in Florence.

She was an established sculptress when she met Robert Falcon Scott in 1907, marrying him in September 1908 and giving birth to their son, Peter, in September 1909. In 1910, she accompanied her husband to New Zealand from where he set off on the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913.

In February 1913, whilst travelling back to New Zealand in order to greet the polar party, she learned that Scott had died in late March 1912 on his return journey from the South Pole.

In recognition of her husband's achievements, she was accorded the rank, style and precedence of the wife of a Knight Commander of the Order of Bath.

In 1922, she married Edward Hilton Young, MP for Norwich, by whom she had a son, Wayland, in 1923. In 1935, Young was raised to the Peerage as Baron Kennet. Baroness Kathleen Kennet, who continued to work professionally under the name of Scott, died in July 1947.

A bronze statue of Robert Falcon Scott by Kathleen stands in Waterloo Place, London, and a marble statue of the same design is situated in Christchurch, New Zealand. A bronze statue of Edward Wilson by Kathleen Scott, unveiled by Sir Clements Markham in 1914, is to be found in Cheltenham. Among her many other sculptures is a statue entitled 'They had most to give', which stands in the garden of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge. This Institute also has a bust of Robert Falcon.

Published work, Self-portrait of an artist by (Lady) Kathleen Scott, John Murray, London (1949) SPRI Library Shelf 92[Scott, K.]

From the guide to the Kathleen Scott collection, 1910-1946, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)