Joseph Dalton Hooker completed an M.D. at the University of Glasgow in 1839. This credential qualified him for service as a naval medical officer, which in turn created an opportunity to join a major scientific voyage and collect plants as part of his duties.
On 30 September 1839, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror sailed from England under James Clark Ross. Hooker joined as an assistant surgeon on Erebus and took on botanical collecting whenever the expedition made landfall. The voyage’s larger purpose was scientific: measuring Earth’s magnetism and searching for the South Magnetic Pole.
As the expedition traveled south, it paused at several islands and ports used for scientific work and resupply. Hooker used these stops to build a comparative plant collection, recording local floras while the expedition established or supported magnetic observations. These early specimens helped him learn how to collect systematically under shipboard conditions.
At Kerguelen (a remote sub-Antarctic archipelago), Hooker encountered cold-climate plant communities dominated by mosses and lichens, with relatively few flowering plants. Collecting in such harsh environments broadened his understanding of how plant life changes with climate and isolation. These specimens later became part of the scientific record of the voyage.
The expedition spent about three months in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) while a magnetic observatory was established. Hooker botanized intensively, building one of the richest parts of his collection during the voyage because he could work ashore for long periods. This phase showed how the expedition’s scientific infrastructure (like observatories) also enabled deeper natural history work.
On 21 November 1840, Erebus and Terror departed Tasmania for Antarctica at the start of the southern summer. This departure marked the transition from sub-Antarctic and colonial ports to direct Antarctic exploration. Hooker’s role shifted toward collecting whenever landing was possible and documenting plant life at high southern latitudes.
On 1 January 1841, Ross’s expedition crossed the Antarctic Circle as it pressed south through sea ice. In the following weeks, the ships sighted and charted major Antarctic features including Victoria Land and the volcanoes later named Mount Erebus and Mount Terror. The discoveries set the geographic frame for many later expeditions, even when landing opportunities were limited.
In January 1841, the expedition met the vast ice cliff Ross called the “Great Ice Barrier,” later known as the Ross Ice Shelf. The barrier blocked further sailing south and forced the expedition to follow its edge, shaping both navigation and scientific plans. For Hooker, the episode highlighted a key constraint of naturalist work in Antarctica: access to land was rare and highly dependent on ice conditions.
After exploring along the ice barrier and nearby coasts, the expedition returned to Tasmania in April 1841. This pause allowed repairs and preparation for a second Antarctic season. It also gave Hooker time to stabilize and organize collections, preserving specimens gathered under difficult conditions.
During the 1842 season, Ross found an inlet along the ice barrier and pushed farther south, setting a new record “farthest south” on 23 February 1842. Although the expedition did not reach the South Magnetic Pole, its repeated seasonal attempts improved mapping and strengthened scientific conclusions. These renewed Antarctic operations continued to shape Hooker’s collecting program, especially through sub-Antarctic and southern landfalls used for comparisons.
The expedition returned to England on 4 September 1843 after nearly four years of travel and scientific work. On returning, Ross received major recognition (including knighthood) for the voyage’s geographic and scientific achievements. For Hooker, the return marked a shift from field collecting to analysis and publication, turning specimens into documented science.
In 1844, Hooker began publishing the botanical results of the voyage as The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror (1839–1843), starting with Flora Antarctica. Publishing transformed scattered field collections into a reference work that other scientists could check and use. The project also anchored Hooker’s reputation as a leading systematic botanist (a scientist who classifies plants).
Between 1845 and 1847, Hooker published another major installment in the series: Botany of Fuegia, the Falklands, Kerguelen’s Land, Etc. These volumes documented plant life from southern islands and coasts that served as key comparison points for understanding plant distribution. The work helped turn the expedition’s route—many separate stops—into a coherent scientific map of southern floras.
Hooker’s Erebus/Terror collections continued to be synthesized for years, with the full botanical series issued across multiple parts, including later volumes on New Zealand and Tasmania. This long publication arc shows the expedition’s enduring impact: the fieldwork of 1839–1843 kept generating new scientific outputs well into the 1850s. As the publications accumulated, they helped establish standards for describing regional floras and comparing plant distributions across oceans.
Joseph Dalton Hooker's botanical surveys on HMS Erebus and Terror (1839–1843)