Edward Shirley Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Edward Shirley Kennedy (1817 – 1898) was an English
mountaineer
and author
, and a founding member of the Alpine Club
.
on 13 August 1857,
Edward Shirley Kennedy (usually known as E. S. Kennedy) (1817 – 1898) was an English
mountaineer
and author
, and a founding member of the Alpine Club
.
, 2004) who attended Caius College, Cambridge as a Fellow-Commoner in his mid-thirties.
on 13 August 1857,
Edward Shirley Kennedy (usually known as E. S. Kennedy) (1817 – 1898) was an English
mountaineer
and author
, and a founding member of the Alpine Club
.
, 2004) who attended Caius College, Cambridge as a Fellow-Commoner in his mid-thirties.
on 13 August 1857,Finsteraarhorn at stnet.ch (accessed 6 January 2008): On this the fifth ascent of the mountain (the first British ascent), Kennedy was accompanied by J. C. W. Ellis, John Frederick Hardy, William Mathews, Benjamin St John Attwood-Mathews, by four guides, Auguste Simond and Jean Baptiste Croz, of Chamonix
, Johann Jaun the Elder, of Meiringen
, Aloys Bortis, of Fiesch
, and by one porter, Alexander Guntern. Kennedy discussed the formation of a national mountaineering club with William Mathews
, who had corresponded with F. J. A. Hort about the idea in February 1857.'According to institutional histories the Alpine Club was first proposed by William Mathews (1828–1901), a Birmingham land agent and surveyor, in letters during 1857 to F. J. A. Hort, a Cambridge don.' (from Founders of the Alpine Club in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). See also The Early Days of the Alpine Club at stnet.ch At the end of that year, Kennedy was chairman of the meeting at which the Alpine Club
was founded (the meeting was attended by twenty of the leading British alpinists of the day, and was held at Ashley's Hotel in London
on 22 December 1857).Clublife at thebmc.co.uk, dated 02/11/2003 (accessed 6 January 2008) Kennedy was made vice-president, with John Ball
as president.Claire Engel, Mountaineering in the Alps, London: George Allen and Unwin, 1971, p. 112. Mathews and Kennedy approached John Ruskin
to become a member, but he declined. p. 113.
Kennedy served as President of the Club between 1860 and 1863.
A wood engraving by Edward Whymper
of The Alpine Club at Zermatt in 1864 shows Kennedy with John Ball, William Mathews, T. G. Bonney
, John Tyndall
, Alfred Wills
(the Alpine Club's third president), and Ulrich Lauener. Kennedy appears as a man of above average height, with a full beard, carrying a long plain wooden staff, several inches taller than himself. Scrambles amongst the Alps in the Years 1860–69, London: John Murray, 1871.
– the highest mountain entirely within Switzerland
– with Saas-Fee
priest and hotel owner Abbé Joseph Imseng and two Swiss guides, but the guides were unwilling to tackle a particularly tricky passage, although both Kennedy and Imseng were happy to continue.Mountaineering in the Alps, p. 104. Engel writes of this unsuccessful expedition: 'The party had taken two Saas guides whose names are not given. They climbed to a height "much above the lower Mischabels" – the still anonymous Lenzspitze
and Nadelhorn
– according to Kennedy.' p. 104. The Dom was first climbed four years later, by the Rev. J. L. Davies and guides in 1858. Together with Charles Hudson, Kennedy was one of the earliest practitioners of climbing without guides
in the Alps
, climbing Mont Blanc du Tacul
and Mont Blanc
(by a new route)Helmut Dumler and Willi P. Burkhardt, The High Mountains of the Alps, London: Diadem, 1994, p. 206. Dumler writes that this party – comprising Kennedy, Hudson, the Smyth brothers (Christopher and Grenville), and Charles Ainslie – 'reached the Col du Dôme and then dropped down to the Grand Plateau and ascended the mountain by the Corridor route'. Leslie Stephen, Melchior Anderegg and party made the first complete ascent of the Goûter ridge in 1862. in guideless parties.
Kennedy was the editor of the second series of Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers (1862). Like the first series (1858), this was a collection of papers (in two volumes) published by the Alpine Club; these were the forerunners of the Alpine Journal
, which first appeared in 1863.Peaks, Passes and Glaciers, ed. Walt Unsworth, London: Allen Lane, 1981, p. 15. This is a modern collection with – the comma aside – the same title.
Kennedy was also active in discussions concerning modification to the traditional ice axe
, proposing a design based on the American
backwoodsman's axe
.Mountaineering in the Alps, p. 161.
, an alpinist who made several first ascents during the same period (e.g. Dent Blanche
(1862), Moine ridge of the Aiguille Verte
(1865)).
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
mountaineer
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and a founding member of the Alpine Club
Alpine Club (UK)
The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857 and was probably the world's first mountaineering club. It is UK mountaineering's acknowledged 'senior club'.-History:...
.
Early life
Kennedy was a gentleman of independent means, who attended Caius College, Cambridge as a Fellow-Commoner in his mid-thirties.Founding of the Alpine Club
During an ascent of the FinsteraarhornFinsteraarhorn
The Finsteraarhorn is the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps and the highest mountain in the canton of Berne. It is also the highest summit in the Alps lying outside the main chain, or watershed. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth highest and third most prominent peak in the Alps...
on 13 August 1857,
Edward Shirley Kennedy (usually known as E. S. Kennedy) (1817 – 1898) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
mountaineer
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and a founding member of the Alpine Club
Alpine Club (UK)
The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857 and was probably the world's first mountaineering club. It is UK mountaineering's acknowledged 'senior club'.-History:...
.
Early life
Kennedy was a gentleman of independent means,Founders of the Alpine Club (act. 1857–1863) by Peter H. Hansen in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online (accessed 6 January 2008): Founders of the Alpine Club (act. 1857–1863) by Peter H. Hansen in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUPOxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 2004) who attended Caius College, Cambridge as a Fellow-Commoner in his mid-thirties.
Founding of the Alpine Club
During an ascent of the FinsteraarhornFinsteraarhorn
The Finsteraarhorn is the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps and the highest mountain in the canton of Berne. It is also the highest summit in the Alps lying outside the main chain, or watershed. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth highest and third most prominent peak in the Alps...
on 13 August 1857,
Edward Shirley Kennedy (usually known as E. S. Kennedy) (1817 – 1898) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
mountaineer
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and a founding member of the Alpine Club
Alpine Club (UK)
The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857 and was probably the world's first mountaineering club. It is UK mountaineering's acknowledged 'senior club'.-History:...
.
Early life
Kennedy was a gentleman of independent means,Founders of the Alpine Club (act. 1857–1863) by Peter H. Hansen in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online (accessed 6 January 2008): Founders of the Alpine Club (act. 1857–1863) by Peter H. Hansen in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUPOxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 2004) who attended Caius College, Cambridge as a Fellow-Commoner in his mid-thirties.
Founding of the Alpine Club
During an ascent of the FinsteraarhornFinsteraarhorn
The Finsteraarhorn is the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps and the highest mountain in the canton of Berne. It is also the highest summit in the Alps lying outside the main chain, or watershed. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth highest and third most prominent peak in the Alps...
on 13 August 1857,Finsteraarhorn at stnet.ch (accessed 6 January 2008): On this the fifth ascent of the mountain (the first British ascent), Kennedy was accompanied by J. C. W. Ellis, John Frederick Hardy, William Mathews, Benjamin St John Attwood-Mathews, by four guides, Auguste Simond and Jean Baptiste Croz, of Chamonix
Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie département in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics...
, Johann Jaun the Elder, of Meiringen
Meiringen
-References:...
, Aloys Bortis, of Fiesch
Fiesch
Fiesch is a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Nearby Fiescheralp is administered by Fiesch and is accessible by the Eggishorn lift....
, and by one porter, Alexander Guntern. Kennedy discussed the formation of a national mountaineering club with William Mathews
William Mathews
William Mathews was an English mountaineer, land agent and surveyor, who first proposed the formation of the Alpine Club of London in 1857.-Founding of the Alpine Club:...
, who had corresponded with F. J. A. Hort about the idea in February 1857.'According to institutional histories the Alpine Club was first proposed by William Mathews (1828–1901), a Birmingham land agent and surveyor, in letters during 1857 to F. J. A. Hort, a Cambridge don.' (from Founders of the Alpine Club in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). See also The Early Days of the Alpine Club at stnet.ch At the end of that year, Kennedy was chairman of the meeting at which the Alpine Club
Alpine Club (UK)
The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857 and was probably the world's first mountaineering club. It is UK mountaineering's acknowledged 'senior club'.-History:...
was founded (the meeting was attended by twenty of the leading British alpinists of the day, and was held at Ashley's Hotel in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 22 December 1857).Clublife at thebmc.co.uk, dated 02/11/2003 (accessed 6 January 2008) Kennedy was made vice-president, with John Ball
John Ball (naturalist)
John Ball was an Irish politician, naturalist and Alpine traveller.-Background and education:Ball was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Nicholas Ball and his wife Jane Sherlock...
as president.Claire Engel, Mountaineering in the Alps, London: George Allen and Unwin, 1971, p. 112. Mathews and Kennedy approached John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
to become a member, but he declined. p. 113.
Kennedy served as President of the Club between 1860 and 1863.
Edward Whymper
Edward Whymper , was an English illustrator, climber and explorer best known for the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. On the descent four members of the party were killed.-Early life:...
of The Alpine Club at Zermatt in 1864 shows Kennedy with John Ball, William Mathews, T. G. Bonney
Thomas George Bonney
Thomas George Bonney FRS was an English geologist.-Career:Bonney was the eldest son of the Reverend Thomas Bonney, master of Rugeley Grammar School...
, John Tyndall
John Tyndall
John Tyndall FRS was a prominent Irish 19th century physicist. His initial scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he studied thermal radiation, and produced a number of discoveries about processes in the atmosphere...
, Alfred Wills
Alfred Wills
Sir Alfred Wills PC was a British High Court judge and a well-known mountaineer. He was the third President of the Alpine Club from 1863 to 1865.-Early life:...
(the Alpine Club's third president), and Ulrich Lauener. Kennedy appears as a man of above average height, with a full beard, carrying a long plain wooden staff, several inches taller than himself. Scrambles amongst the Alps in the Years 1860–69, London: John Murray, 1871.
Alpinism
In 1854 Kennedy attempted the unclimbed DomDom (mountain)
The Dom is a mountain in the Pennine Alps above Saas Fee in the canton of Valais. With its summit it is the third highest peak in the Alps and the second highest in Switzerland...
– the highest mountain entirely within Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
– with Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
priest and hotel owner Abbé Joseph Imseng and two Swiss guides, but the guides were unwilling to tackle a particularly tricky passage, although both Kennedy and Imseng were happy to continue.Mountaineering in the Alps, p. 104. Engel writes of this unsuccessful expedition: 'The party had taken two Saas guides whose names are not given. They climbed to a height "much above the lower Mischabels" – the still anonymous Lenzspitze
Lenzspitze
The Lenzspitze is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. It is the southernmost peak on the Nadelgrat, a high-level ridge running roughly north–south, north of Dom in the Mischabel range, above the resort of Saas Fee to the east, and the Mattertal to the west.It was first climbed in August...
and Nadelhorn
Nadelhorn
The Nadelhorn is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. It is the highest point on the Nadelgrat, a high-level ridge running roughly north–south above the resort of Saas-Fee to the east, and the Mattertal to the west. Its three ridges join to form a sharp-pointed summit, which looks like a...
– according to Kennedy.' p. 104. The Dom was first climbed four years later, by the Rev. J. L. Davies and guides in 1858. Together with Charles Hudson, Kennedy was one of the earliest practitioners of climbing without guides
Mountain guide
Mountain guides are specially trained and experienced mountaineers and professionals who are generally certified by an association. They are considered experts in mountaineering.-Skills:Their skills usually include climbing, skiing and hiking...
in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, climbing Mont Blanc du Tacul
Mont Blanc du Tacul
Mont Blanc du Tacul is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif of the French Alps situated midway between the Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc....
and Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
(by a new route)Helmut Dumler and Willi P. Burkhardt, The High Mountains of the Alps, London: Diadem, 1994, p. 206. Dumler writes that this party – comprising Kennedy, Hudson, the Smyth brothers (Christopher and Grenville), and Charles Ainslie – 'reached the Col du Dôme and then dropped down to the Grand Plateau and ascended the mountain by the Corridor route'. Leslie Stephen, Melchior Anderegg and party made the first complete ascent of the Goûter ridge in 1862. in guideless parties.
Kennedy was the editor of the second series of Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers (1862). Like the first series (1858), this was a collection of papers (in two volumes) published by the Alpine Club; these were the forerunners of the Alpine Journal
Alpine Journal
The Alpine Journal is the yearly publication of the Alpine Club of London. It is the oldest mountaineering journal in the world.-History:The journal was first published on 2 March 1863 by the publishing house of Longmans in London, with Hereford Brooke George as its first editor...
, which first appeared in 1863.Peaks, Passes and Glaciers, ed. Walt Unsworth, London: Allen Lane, 1981, p. 15. This is a modern collection with – the comma aside – the same title.
Kennedy was also active in discussions concerning modification to the traditional ice axe
Ice axe
An ice axe, is a multi-purpose ice and snow tool used by mountaineers both in the ascent and descent of routes which involve frozen conditions. It can be held and employed in a number of different ways, depending on the terrain encountered...
, proposing a design based on the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
backwoodsman's axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
.Mountaineering in the Alps, p. 161.
First ascents
- Goûter ridge (incomplete) of Mont BlancMont BlancMont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
in 1854 with Charles Hudson and party - Mont Blanc du TaculMont Blanc du TaculMont Blanc du Tacul is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif of the French Alps situated midway between the Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc....
(first official ascent) on 5 August 1855 with Charles Hudson, Edward John Stevenson, Christopher and James Grenville Smyth, Charles Ainslie and G. C. Joad - Fuorcla Crast' AgüzzaCrast' AgüzzaCrast' Agüzza is a mountain in the Bernina Range in Italy and Switzerland.The peak is bounded to the north by the Morteratsch Glacier and to the south by the Upper Scerscen Glacier...
. Kennedy, together with J. F. Hardy, and guides P. and F. Jenny and A. Flury, were the first to reach this colMountain passA mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
(although they did not traverse it) on 23 July 1861.Collomb, Robin, Bernina Alps, Goring: West Col Productions, 1988, p. 51 - Monte DisgraziaMonte DisgraziaMonte Disgrazia is a mountain in the Bregaglia range in the Italian Alps. It is the highest peak in the Val Masino group, situated south of the Bernina Range.It has five glaciers and five wild ridges and is a demanding climb....
on 23 August 1862 with Leslie StephenLeslie StephenSir Leslie Stephen, KCB was an English author, critic and mountaineer, and the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.-Life:...
and Thomas Cox, and guide Melchior AndereggMelchior AndereggMelchior Anderegg , from Zaun, Meiringen, was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascensionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism...
E. S. Kennedy, 'The Ascent of Monte della Disgrazia', in H. B. George, (ed.) The Alpine Journal: A Record of Mountain Adventure and Scientific Observation. By Members of the Alpine Club. Vol. 1, No. 1. London: Longmans, 1863.
Note
E. S. Kennedy should not be confused with T. S. Kennedy of LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, an alpinist who made several first ascents during the same period (e.g. Dent Blanche
Dent Blanche
The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. With its high summit, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps.-Naming:...
(1862), Moine ridge of the Aiguille Verte
Aiguille Verte
The Aiguille Verte is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps.It was first climbed on 29 June 1865 by Edward Whymper, Christian Almer and Franz Biner, a fortnight before the fateful first ascent of the Matterhorn. Whymper was unable to climb with his usual guide, Michel Croz, who...
(1865)).