 He travelled to North Africa and Bermuda, and received material from other foreign expeditions, including the "Terra Nova" Expedition (1910–1913) and the "Discovery Investigations" of the 1920s and 1930s.Robert Gurney was born in 1879 as the fourth son of John Gurney (1845–1887) and Isabel Charlotte Gurney (later Baroness Talbot de Malahide) of Sprowston Hall, Norfolk.He went to school at Eton College, and went on to study at New College, Oxford, graduating with first class honours in 1902.