20th Century

Shackleton's Tin of Rowntree's Cocoa



The Cocoa that went to the South Pole (almost) - York Castle Museum


1909AD - 1909AD

This tin of Rowntree's cocoa has been almost all the way to the south pole and back.

It is one of the unused stores brought back by Sir Ernest Shackleton, from his failed attempt to reach the South Pole in 1909.  The cocoa was made by Rowntree, the famous York chocolate manufacturer, now owned by Nestle.

The tin was donated to the Castle Museum by a lady in Sydenham.  Her family had known Sir Ernest Shackleton’s family and they were given this tin by one of his sisters.  It bears a handwritten label which reads:

‘This tin of cocoa is one of the unused stores brought back by Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition from the Antarctic. As leader of the Nimrod Expedition he and three colleagues got to within 97 geographical miles of the South Pole before having to turn back.'

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