Lieutenant Henry Robertson ‘Birdie’ Bowers (29 July 1883 - 29 March 1912) was one of Robert Falcon Scott’s polar party on the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition (1910–1913), all of whom died during their return from the South Pole.
The Terra Nova expedition included Eddie Wilson who was the Doctor in the party (St George’s Hospital Medical School - now in Tooting)
Whilst living in Streatham, Bowers attended Streatham High School for Boys in Pinfold Road in 1896-7. The building survives today as the Computer Centre behind Streatham Library, on which a plaque was placed by The Streatham Society on 29 March 2012 to commemorate the centenary of his death.
In honour of his heroism, The Streatham Society and Lambeth Living paid tribute to this legendary Polar explorer with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at 19a-23c Pathfield Road - the site of Lt Bowers’ boyhood home which was destroyed by a V1 flying bomb that fell on Pathfield Road on 18 June 1944 during the Second World War.
The Bowers Hills in Antarctica, later renamed the Bowers Mountains, were named in his honour.
The picture of the Polar Party to the South Pole was taken in 1912. The party included Henry Robertson Bowers from Streatham.
