Albert Hastings Markham (1841–1918) was the cousin of the subject of this biography, published in 1917, and greatly admired his older relative, who had acted as his mentor. Clements R. Markham (1830–1916) is remembered as a prolific writer on historical geography, many of whose works are reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. As a boy, he showed great enthusiasm for both history and exploration, and after a chance encounter with an admiral, joined the navy as a cadet. After eight years, he determined to leave the service and pursue a career as an explorer and writer. His first expedition was to Peru, but his main interest was in the Arctic. As an active member of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Hakluyt Society, he both published accounts of early voyages and urged further exploration in the polar regions, including the 1901–4 Discovery expedition under Robert Scott.