Fact File

Early Life

• Born on the 5th of may at Shipley Yorkshire England.
• Second son of Robert Ellis Mawson.
• He was two years old when he moved to Australia.
• Was Educated at Rooty Hill and Fort Street Model School
• He was 16 when he started university.
• At the university of Sydney (1899) he studied mining engineering and graduated in 1902 when he was a demonstrator in chemistry.
• First came to Antarctica at the age of 26 with an expedition held by British explorer Ernest Shackleton.

Details of Journey

• He was 30 when he decided to hold he's own Australasia expedition.
• They travelled on a steam yacht called the Aurora.
• the Ship left on the 2nd of December 1911.
• He arrived in February 1912.
• Mawson's focus was not for wealth of fame but to advance objective scientific research and find the truth.
• Everyone separated into groups and went on different paths of Antarctica.
• Mawson was with Mertz and Ninnis the far eastern journey they departed Main Base in November 1912.
• On the journey Ninnis died from falling down a crevasse and then Mertz died from physical exertion, starvation and possibly toxicity from eating dogs liver.
• Mawson went on to Main base 39 days alone.
• 6 men waited for Mawson's team to arrive only Mawson survived out of the three in he's group.
• A year later a ship arrived to get the 6 men and Mawson.

Achievements

• Most Famous Australian Antarctica explorer.
• Mawson completed the longest Antarctica man-hauling sledge journey of 122 days. 
• He went on another expedition to Antarctic and the team he was in was the first team to climb mount Erebus (Antarctica's active volcano).

Later Life

• In 1924 and 1931 Mawson went back to Antarctica.
• Mawson married Francisca Adriana Paquita Delprat in 1914.
• Mawson and Francisca had two daughters.
• Mawson died at his Brighton home on the 14th of October 1958.
• he was 76 when he died.