A White Ensign from the Quest, [1921], 67 x 127cm. (small tear to lower margin, some old dampstaining). Mounted in a varnished mahogany frame with stained pine backing, glazed, the frame with applied brass plaque 'PRESENTED TO THE MEMBERS OF THE/ROYAL PORTSMOUTH CORINTHIAN YACHT CLUB, PORTSMOUTH/BY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER DOUGLAS C JEFFERY D.S.O., R.N.R., NOVEMBER 1922/THIS WHITE ENSIGN WAS FLOWN ON R.Y.S. QUEST DURING HER CRUISE TO ANTARCTIC/UNDER THE COMMAND OF SIR ERNEST H. SHACKLETON, C.V.O./17TH SEPT. 1921 TO 12TH SEPT. 1922'

Douglas Jeffery had signed up in 1914 as Chief Officer on board the Endurance, but, on the eve of her departure, war was declared, and Jeffery took the decision that he could not sail and left the Endurance when she put ashore at Portsmouth. He joined up and served with distinction in the war. In 1921 Jeffery seized his chance to serve under Shackleton again and was appointed navigating officer on the Quest. Once off South Georgia on 4 January 1922, he noted in his diary that Shackleton seemed to be recovering from his poor health on the voyage south (the 'Boss' was 'more like himself than he has been so far this trip... more like the Shacks I knew in 1914'), only to see Shackleton die the following day.

The Quest also carried a 'silken ensign' which was given by Lord Shackleton to the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, Isle of White and this latter wrapped the body of Shackleton on 5 January: 'He had died suddenly, almost painlessly we were glad to know... After midday he was wrapped in our silken ensign and reverently lowered into a motor-launch and taken ashore... So wrapped in his country's flag, to which he had brought nothing but honour -- the flag he loved with a genuinely passionate devotion that was not merely expressed in words but also in stirring deeds -- the great British explorer passed from among us.' (Scout Marr, Into the Frozen South, London, 1924, p.103)