An early encounter with Alexander Buchan brought about a lifelong interest in meteorology and he began taking private measurements and compiling complex records in 1886 aged only 16.
[4] Despite lacking formal training he was a keen amateur meteorologist and was chosen to man the Glen Coe Weather Station at the foot of Ben Nevis in 1895/6.
In 1902 he was chosen to join the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under William Spiers Bruce on board the Scotia alongside the geologist Dr Harvey Pirie.
[6] He then joined the Argentine boat Uruguay going to the Gerlache Strait in Graham Land in search of Dr Charcot's ongoing expedition.
[citation needed] After a three-year trip he briefly returned to Britain in 1905 before joining a further expedition, this time to the Arctic regions of Greenland and Spitzbergen 1906/7.