Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed

Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed (1860 - July 27, 1934) was a British pioneer of mountaineering in a time when it was almost unheard of for a woman to climb mountains. Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting Events 1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located “Alpinist” redirects here See also Alpinist (magazine Mountaineering is the Sport, Hobby or Profession of A mountain is a Landform that extends above the surrounding Terrain in a limited area with a peak She was also an author and a photographer of mountain scenery. An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created A photographer is a person who takes a Photograph using a Camera.

She came from an upper class background, being the daughter of Captain Sir St. Is a concept in Sociology that refers to the group of people at the top of a Social hierarchy. Vincent Hawkins-Whitshed, Bt. (1837-1871) by his wife Anne Alicia (née Handcock) (1837-1908), and further back was descended from the aristocratic Bentinck family, and was therefore related to the Dukes of Portland. For the whaler see Duke of Portland (whaler Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England.

She was born in London, but grew up in Greystones, County Wicklow in the south-east of Ireland, where her father owned quite a bit of land. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Greystones (Na Clocha Liatha is a coastal town in County Wicklow, Ireland. County Wicklow (Contae Chill Mhantáin is a county on the east coast of Ireland, immediately south of Dublin. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world However, her father then died, leaving no other children, while she was still a minor, and the Lord Chancellor took her on as his ward. The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor is a senior and important functionary in the Government of the United Kingdom. In Law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a Legal guardian.

Elizabeth moved to Switzerland, where she climbed mountains in her skirt. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped Garment that hangs from the Waist and covers all or part of the Legs In European culture, skirts are usually In 1907, she became the first president of the Ladies Alpine Club. Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year She wrote seven books on mountain climbing and over her lifetime climbed twenty peaks that no one had climbed before. A Book is a set or collection of written printed illustrated or blank sheets made of Paper, Parchment, or other material usually fastened together

She married three times: firstly, in 1879, to Frederick Gustavus Burnaby (1842-1885); secondly, in 1886, to John Frederick Main (died 1892), whom she divorced in 1879; and thirdly, in 1900, to Aubrey Le Blond. Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby ( March 3, 1842 – January 17, 1885) was an English traveller and Soldier. From her first marriage, she had a son Harry Burnaby, in 1880. Despite her second and third marriages, the lands at Greystones that she had inherited from her father (before marriage) were to be known as the Burnaby Estate. This part of Greystones (The Burnaby) was developed after 1900. It includes Burnaby Road, Somerby Road, as well as Whitshed, St. Vincent's, and Portland Roads, and Hawkins Lane. She published accounts of her climbing under the names Mrs. Fred Burnaby, Mrs. Main, and Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond.

She published her autobiography Day In, Day Out in 1928. An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write"

References

Brief biography of "Miss Main" - in German
History of Greystones in County Wicklow - with information on the Burnaby Estate and the Hawkins-Whitshed family
Descendants of Willem Bentinck and Charlotte Sophie of Aldenburg by Hein Bruins - source for family information
Peter H. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Hansen, ‘Le Blond , Elizabeth Alice Frances (1860–1934)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2006