Paton, James, 1843-1906

James Paton was born in Glasgow in 1869. He was an able seaman, residing with his family in Lyttelton, New Zealand, when he joined Morning, the relief ship sent to McMurdo Sound in 1902-1903 and 1903-1904 to assist the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904 (leader Robert Falcon Scott). His next Antarctic voyage was as able seaman on board Nimrod on the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909 (leader Ernest Henry Shackleton), after which he was invited to join the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913 (leader Robert Falcon Scott) as able seaman in Terra Nova . Paton's final Antarctic venture was as boatswain on Aurora during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition [Ross Sea Party], 1914-1917 (leader Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton). In May 1915, Aurora was driven by a blizzard from her moorings off Cape Evans and beset by pack ice, leaving ten men ashore to winter with minimal supplies. After drifting for ten months in the Ross Sea, she broke free in March 1916 and returned to New Zealand. Aurora, with Paton still boatswain, rescued the seven survivors of the shore party at Cape Evans in January 1917.

After the expedition, Shackleton sold Aurora to an American firm and Paton was on board the vessel when she sailed for Chile in June 1917. Paton was lost at sea, as nothing more was heard of Aurora, which was finally posted missing in January 1918.

From the guide to the James Paton collection, 1910-1916, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)