Charles Howard-Bury | |
|---|---|
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| Member of Parliament forChelmsford | |
| In office 30 November 1926 – 7 October 1931 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Curtis-Bennett |
| Succeeded by | Vivian Henderson |
| Member of Parliament forBilston | |
| In office 15 November 1922 – 9 October 1924 | |
| Preceded by | T. E. Hickman |
| Succeeded by | John Baker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1881-08-15)15 August 1881 Charleville Castle, King's County, Ireland (nowCounty Offaly) |
| Died | 20 September 1963(1963-09-20) (aged 82) Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland |
| Parents |
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| Education | Eton |
| Alma mater | Royal Military College, Sandhurst |
| Known for | 1921 Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition |
Lieutenant-ColonelCharles Kenneth Howard-BuryDSO,DL,JP (15 August 1881 – 20 September 1963) was a Britishsoldier,explorer,botanist andConservative politician.
A member of theHoward family, he was born atCharleville Castle, King's County, Ireland, the only son of Captain Kenneth Howard-Bury (1846–1885), son of the HonourableJames Howard. His mother was Lady Emily Alfreda Julia, daughter of Charles Bury, 3rd Earl of Charleville. His father had assumed the additional surname of Bury in 1881 after his wife succeeded to the Charleville estates. In his own right he succeeded to the estates ofCharles Brinsley Marlay includingBelvedere House andBloomfield House. He was educated atEton and theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst.
Howard-Bury was always interested in climbing as a youth, which led him to take up the larger routes inAustrian Alps. He joined theKing's Royal Rifle Corps in 1904 and was posted toIndia, where he went travelling and big game-hunting. In 1905, he secretly enteredTibet without permission and was rebuked byLord Curzon. His early travel diaries date from 1906 and show his powers of observation, encyclopaedic knowledge of natural history, and linguistic ability.[citation needed] At the beginning ofWorld War I, Howard-Bury rejoined his regiment and served with distinction as a frontline officer on the Somme and throughout the conflict. He was captured during theGerman spring offensive of 1918, and then made an escape from his prisoner-of-war camp, before being recaptured ten days later.[citation needed]
At the behest orSir Francis Younghusband in 1920, Howard-Bury paved the way for the Everest Expedition. In 1921 he was the leader of theMount Everest reconnaissance expedition, organised and financed by theMount Everest Committee, a joint body of theAlpine Club and theRoyal Geographical Society. In 1922, he wrote an account of the expedition, published as "Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921".[1]
During the 1921 expedition, Howard-Bury found many footprints at high altitude; he later pronounced that the tracks "were probably caused by a large 'loping' grey wolf",[1] however his sherpas were quick to offer that they were the tracks of a "metch kangmi" (meaning "filthy snowman"). It was at this time that Henry Newman ofThe Statesman in Calcutta (nowKolkata) obtained descriptions from the expedition's porters on their return to Darjeeling.Bill Tilman has claimed that Newman mistranslated "metch kangmi" as "abominable snowman", hence the phrase "Abominable Snowman" came into existence in 1921.[2][3]
Later Newman wrote in a letter toThe Times "The whole story seemed such a joyous creation I sent it to one or two newspapers".[2] Izzard adds "whatever effect Mr. Newman intended, from 1921 onwards the Yeti – or whatever various native populations choose to call it – became saddled with the description "Abominable Snowman", an appellation which can only appeal more to the music-hall mind than to mammologists, a fact which has seriously handicapped earnest seekers of the truth"[4]
He was awarded the 1922Founder's Medal of theRoyal Geographical Society for his leadership of the expedition.[5]
The Everest expedition of 1921 made Howard-Bury a public figure, and in 1922 he was elected to parliament forBilston asConservative. He lost his seat in 1924[6] but returned to theHouse of Commons in 1926, when he was elected forChelmsford. He resigned in 1931.[7] He was also adeputy lieutenant andjustice of the peace forCounty Westmeath.
Howard-Bury died on 20 September 1963, aged 82. He never married. He left his house atBelvedere to his friend and companion Rex Beaumont.[8]
In 2013, British adventurersMatthew Traver andJamie Bunchuk completed a 750-mile horse ride down the post roads of EasternKazakhstan in honour of the centenary of Howard-Bury's travels through the region, en route to theTian Shan mountains in 1913.[9][10]
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBilston 1922–1924 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forChelmsford 1926–1931 | Succeeded by |
