Keith Jack was educated at the University of Melbourne, graduating with an MSc in 1914. A year later he joined the Shackleton expedition, where along with other members of the crew, he became stranded for 2 years in Antarctica after the loss of the ship Aurora. During this time he kept a regular diary across five volumes. Keith was rescued along with six other survivors in 1917. Keith also took many photographs during the expedition, some of which were later hand-coloured as lantern slides. Keith's diaries, as well as a number of his artefacts from the expedition, including his 1829 Aneroid barometer and a set of two thermometers, were bequeathed to the Museum Victoria.