Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton was born on 15 July 1911 in London, the son of Ernest and Emily Shackleton. While an undergraduate at Magdalen College, Oxford, he joined the Oxford University Expedition to Sarawak as surveyor in 1932, making the first ascent of Mount Mulu. After graduating, he organized the Oxford University Expedition to Ellesmere Island, 1934-1935 (leader Noel Humphreys), conducting surveys and geological work in the Bache Peninsula area with his colleague Robert Bentham. After the expedition, Shackleton wrote Arctic Journeys, published in 1937, dealing with Canadian Arctic exploration between the wars. On the outbreak of the Second World War, he worked as Ministry of Information talks producer for the BBC, leaving in 1940 to join the RAF as an anti-U-boat planner and intelligence officer, where he rose to the rank of wing commander. He was awarded the OBE in 1945.
In 1946, he was elected Labour Member of Parliament for Preston, a position he held until 1955. In 1958, he was created Life Peer of Burley under the Life Peerages Act of 1958. He served as Minister of Defence for the RAF from 1964 to 1967, returning to the Arctic during an official visit to Canada in 1965. In 1967, he was appointed deputy leader of the House of Lords serving until 1968, when he became leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal, holding both posts until 1970. From 1971 to 1974, he served as president of the Royal Geographical Society and in 1990, was awarded its Special Gold Medal.
In 1973, he joined the RTZ Corporation as director, acting as deputy chairman from 1975 until his retirement in 1982, after which he was retained as adviser. In 1975, Shackleton was invited by the British government to lead an enquiry into the economy of the Falkland Islands and his Economic Survey of the Falkland Islands was published the following year. The report recommended various measures to improve the economy of the islands, including the upgrading of the airfield at Stanley, land reform and licensed fishing limits. On the outbreak of the Falklands Conflict in 1982, the government requested Shackleton to update this report. His wide-ranging knowledge enabled him to serve on many committees during his career and he was knighted in 1974. In 1988, he made his last visit to the Arctic as patron of the Joint Services Expedition to Borup Fiord, Ellesmere Island. He died on 22 September 1994.
Published work Nansen the explorer by (Baron) Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd. London (1959) SPRI Library Shelf 92[Nansen, F.]
From the guide to the Edward Shackleton collection, 1932-1994, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
