Captain James Fairweather: Whaler and Shipmaster - His Life and Career 1853 - 1933

An account of the long, adventurous, and varied life of Captain James Fairweather of Dundee, from his childhood attempt to run away to sea, through his years in the Dundee Whaling fleet voyaging to the Arctic and north-eastern Canada; his years in the merchant service, particularly in the Indian Ocean, his last voyage to the Arctic in 1914, Wartime Service, and lastly as Captain of the Discovery for the 1916 Shackleton Relief expedition. His personal life is also recounted. The Captain displays his robust sense of humour in extracts from his privately printed memoirs.

The author is the granddaughter of James Fairweather, who in 1872 joined the Dundee Whaling Fleet and sailed to the Greenland Sea, Newfoundland, and the Arctic every year until 1889. He then joined the Merchantile Marine and retired in 1913, at which point he undertook a last voyage to the Arctic (1914). In 1916 he was placed in charge of the Discovery for the official Shackleton Relief Expedition to the Antarctic, but the expedition did not take place. This is the first book devoted to Fairweather, and it includes much information concerning his voyages and about the Dundee Whaling Fleet, also has information about Fairweather's older brother Alexander.