The women who 'inspired' polar-explorers Shackleton and Scott We all know the stories of Captain Scott and Shackleton but do we know anything about their wives? Miss Herbert, who first visited the Arctic with her parents when she was 10 months old, told an audience at the Edinburgh International Book Festival the "incredible stories" had allowed her to "rediscover the voices of these women." She said Capt Scott would not have gone back to the Antarctic for his most famous, and ultimately disastrous, expedition without the support of his wife. "He has this huge period of melancholia where he believes he can't do it," she added. Kathleen writes these letters to him, one saying: 'You shall have the pole,' underlined three times. She said: 'Do take risks'. I really don't believe Scott would have got to the pole without her. Miss Herbert said Shackleton had been a merchant seaman for many years before successfully courting Emily Dorman. Sir Ernest Shackleton and wife Emily Dorman. "She thought he probably had a girl in every port," she said. She was older than him and was not impressed at all. He absolutely fell for her. They were from different classes. Her solicitor father thought it was an unequal match. When the Discovery expedition came up, Shackleton thought, this is my chance to prove myself to Emily. The moment he got the yes he went and asked for her hand in marriage. She said the letters he wrote from the expedition were "really poignant," showing him torn between the pride of being accepted for dangerous missions and the importance of surviving to get back to Emily. Shackleton's career was notable for ensuring all his men all returned alive because of his commitment to family. Miss Herbert said it was amazing to discover the voices of the explorers' wives as she read their letters. She said: "I was hearing the voices of these women who had never been heard before."