Adam Ayles

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Adam Ayles (1850 – 4 April 1912) was a British Arctic explorer who served as the Petty Officer of HMS Alert under George Nares during the British Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876. He was born in Marnhull, Dorset, England, to an unmarried mother, and left school at twelve to work on a farm. He joined the Royal Navy in 1867 and took part in the 1868 expedition to Abyssinia. In the Arctic Expedition he did not suffer from scurvy and walked more than 100 miles across the ice to bring relief to his teammates. The Ayles Ice Shelf and Mount Ayles were named after him. He was known as a teetotaler, and Punch magazine celebrated his achievement with a light verse. Ayles left the navy in 1885, lived in Sydney for a few years, and then moved to New Zealand. He worked as the librarian in Carterton from 1893 to 1899 before settling in Auckland. He died suddenly in April 1912 while tending the bowling green at the Rocky Nook Bowling Club in Auckland.