Proclamation of British sovereignty over King George V Land (Antarctica), signed by Sir Douglas Mawson, 5 January 1931

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Type: Documents
Date: 5 January 1931
Place: Cape Denison, George V Land, Antarctica; England
Materials: Ink, Paper
Collection: Sir Douglas Mawson collection
Accession number: 1993.0121.0001

Description

A proclamation written on rag paper in copperplate by A L Kennedy, a physicist in Mawson's party, and signed by Sir Douglas Mawson, dated '5-1-31'. It declares that 'the full sovereignty / of the Territory of King George V Land / and its extension ... / vests in His Majesty / King George the Fifth, his heirs and / successors, / forever'.

Proclamation of British sovereignty over King George V Land (Antarctica), which was written by physicist and surveyor Alexander Kennedy and signed by Douglas Mawson, on 5 January 1931. Mawson read this proclamation to a small group of his fellow explorers at Cape Denison, before the document was buried in a handmade canister in a cairn at Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica. The canister was made from empty food tins welded together. Another proclaimation was made by Mawson at Mac.Robertson Land on 18 February 1931. During the 1976-77 summer expedition of the Australian Antartic Division (AAD), the proclamation was removed from the cairn at Cape Denison and returned to Australia aboard the MV ‘Thala Dan’. It was deposited with the National Library of Australia and later transferred to the National Museum of Australia.

About the collection

The Sir Douglas Mawson collection comprises two letters and a canister. The first letter, dated 5 January 1931, is a proclamation handwritten in copperplate on rag paper by A L Kennedy, a physicist in Mawson's party, and signed by Sir Douglas Mawson, proclaiming British sovereignty over King George V Land (Antarctica) between Longitudes 142 and 160 degrees east of Greenwich, and between Latitudes 66 degrees south and the South Pole. The second letter is a transcript of a later proclamation signed by Mawson on 18 February 1931 stating: "proclamation read and flag planted on McRobertson Land Latitude 67.26 South, Longitude 60.49 East claiming large tracts of Antarctica Mainland and off lying islands."' The collection also contains a metal canister made from three food tins soldered together. It was in this canister that Mawson placed the 5 January 1931 proclamation at Cape Denison. Forty-six years later, members of the 1977 Australian Antarctic Expedition retrieved the objects from their burial place beneath a cairn in Commonwealth Bay. Distinguished polar explorer and scientist, Sir Douglas Mawson (1882-1958), led three research expeditions to Antarctica, the first from 1911-14, and the second and third - British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expeditions (BANZARE) - in 1929-30 and 1930-31. However, as well as the advancement of scientific exploration, oceanographic work and biological knowledge, great emphasis for Mawson's later voyages lay on British intentions to pre-empt territorial expansion by Norway, which was intent on securing rights over Antarctic territory to support and extend its whaling industry. Instructions issued by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce to Mawson on 12 September 1929, explained clearly that territorial acquisition (in Bruce's words, to "plant the British flag") was to be a chief objective of his voyages. The documents in this collection are considerably important in terms of territorial claims and international politics. Mawson's team were the first to map much of the coast, and this provided firm foundation for sovereignty over 5,800,000 square kilometres, or forty-two percent, of eastern Antarctic Territory to be transferred from Britain to Australia under the Australian Antarctic Territory Acceptance Act 1933, which came into effect in 1936. Although several states have claimed territory in Antarctica, Australia effectively controls a greater area than has been claimed by any other nation.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:03:44 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2026-10-12. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.