New project capturing memories of Scottish whaling communities launched by historian Dan Snow
The Whalers’ Memory Bank brings together new and lost stories of Scottish whalers and their intrepid adventures on South Georgia island.
Over the last two years, the South Georgia Heritage Trust and the South Georgia Museum have been working alongside former whaling communities in Scotland to create The Whalers’ Memory Bank.
Launching on June 27 in Dundee, with help from historian Dan Snow, the Whalers’ Memory Bank is a brand-new living, growing digital time capsule where veterans of the whaling industry, their families and communities have come together to share their stories with a wider audience. The project has been made possible by National Lottery players with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
It tells the story of modern whaling (between 1904-1965) in the Southern Hemisphere. British companies played a key role in the industry and had a largely Scottish workforce, attracting many working-class men with the promise of adventure and competitive wages.
The Memory Bank enables visitors to the platform to better understand how whale products (which ranged from margarine to the production of soap and cosmetics) were such a vital resource during the 20th century, and an essential ingredient to how we not only fed and armed ourselves as a nation, but how they literally kept the wheels of Britain turning. It looks at whaling through the lens of the time rather than with hindsight, as it is something we simply can’t imagine with whale preservation a cornerstone of worldwide conservation efforts today.
Our shared memory of what was once an essential industry, and an integral part of Scottish social history, is fading. Importantly, The Whalers’ Memory Bank has combined new and existing material, now captured in one place for the first time.
To watch a short film (1 min 30) about the project, visit: https://vimeo.com/1079694053/5cd7552682
Since the project launched in June 2023 the South Georgia Museum has run a number of workshops with whaling veterans where they shared their stories, knowledge and personal collections. The museum has also worked with other Scottish museums and has received several hundred items that also now form part of the Memory Bank.
As a result, the Memory Bank can provide insights into what life was like for whalers on South Georgia who had travelled 8,000 miles from home in Scotland to find work, due to its scarcity. The whaling stations and ‘factory’ ships were like mini-towns and there were many different roles including processing whales on land at the whaling station or on board a factory ship, working as a radio operator, ‘mess boy’, blacksmith or helicopter pilot searching for whales at sea.
These fascinating real-life experiences are told through film, oral histories, photographs and more. Visitors to the Memory Bank will be able to find out more about the whaling community’s lives as well as taking a 3D tour of a whaling station on South Georgia where a staggering 176,000 whales were processed island wide.
Jayne Pierce, Project Director and Curator at the South Georgia Museum said: ‘Since we launched the project in June 2023, we have been inundated with material for the Whalers’ Memory Bank which showed us we were onto something in terms of people wanting to tell this untold story.
‘It has really been a joint effort, bringing together former whalers, their families and their communities to hear their stories and get their help in shaping what the Memory Bank has become. It is their generosity in sharing their time and personal collections from videos, objects and photographs stored in attics, cupboards and drawers which has helped us create such a special and unique project.
‘Through these personal stories, we really hope the Memory Bank will connect communities across local, national and international boundaries and dispel some of the myths around whaling by telling the story through the eyes of the people who lived and breathed it. What we have created is a richer experience than a simple online museum database - dynamic rather than static - uplifting and celebratory.
‘Importantly, the Memory Bank is also underpinned by a digital database showing collections and archives from partner museums. We want the Memory Bank to become a way marker to other whaling resources – a one stop shop that is free to use and accessible – including links to other books and oral histories former whalers have produced which was really important for us to include.’
Gibbie Fraser, Chair of the Shetland ex-Whalers Association said: ‘On behalf of Shetland ex-Whalers Association veterans we are pleased to have helped shape the Whalers’ Memory bank. We have an extensive collection of photos from the whaling years which we were at a loss as to what to do with until the Memory Bank came along and will save them for future generations to see.
‘For many of us the whaling was a great adventure as well as a hard life and we really wanted to share this with the wider world. We hope people will get a better understanding of what life was like for us, our families and communities 8,000 miles away back home in Shetland.’
Helen Balfour, Assistant Curator, South Georgia Museum said: ‘Working on the Whalers’ Memory Bank has been a real privilege, not least because it’s been fascinating to learn more about my fellow Shetlanders’ roles within the industry but also because of my family connections to South Georgia. Both my grandfathers and great-grandfather were whalers on South Georgia in the 1950s and 1930s, so to understand more about what they saw, what they experienced and how they, their colleagues and families back home must have felt, is incredibly special. It is amazing that over 60 years on from the whaling the camaraderie that exists between the whalers is just as strong and I hope you can see it reflected in the Whalers’ Memory Bank.’
Caroline Clark, Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, said: ‘We take a very different view of whaling now but it was once an industry essential to the national economy and to the lives of these communities. Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, the Whalers’ Memory Bank team have done an incredible job working with the former whaling communities to capture the personal stories of whalers and their families, exploring this important untold part of Scottish social history. We are delighted to see the Whalers’ Memory Bank launched today and thank everyone who has taken the time to share their memories and personal collections with each other and the wider world.’
Creating the Whalers’ Memory Bank would not have been possible without support from the Scottish Fisheries Museum (Anstruther), the Scottish Maritime Museum (Irvine), the Shetland Museum & Archives and Dundee Heritage Trust’s Verdant Works. The Salvesen Ex-Whalers Club and the Shetland ex-Whalers Association have also been instrumental in sharing their experiences and memories.
The Whalers’ Memory Bank is being unveiled as part of the new ‘Whale of a Weekend’ festival by the South Georgia Heritage Trust in Dundee. This spectacular three-day free festival brings art, science and adventure to Dundee waterfront and will showcase Scotland’s deep-rooted connections to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia.
Also being unveiled for the first time is Scottish sculpture Michael Visocchi’s brand-new Whale Memorial, Commensalis; a powerful tribute to the story of the whale’s dark history and its resurgence in recent years. There will be interactive exhibitions, a host of family-friendly activities and exclusive talks from world-renowned polar explorers and scientists throughout the festival too.
To explore the Whalers’ Memory Bank or to get involved with the project, visit whalersmemorybank.sgmuseum.gs [access to the Whalers’ Memory Bank will be live from June 27.