Story of the Lady Mountaineer

Stunning photographs of the Alps and other mountainous regions were screened at the Dunstable and District Local History Society’s October meeting.

They were particularly remarkable because they were taken in Victorian times when the early cameras were bulky and cumbersome. What’s more, the pioneering climber who brought the heavy equipment up the mountainside was a woman: Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed.

She shocked society by undertaking adventurous expeditions at a time when most ladies of her class were expected to stay at home.

Elizabeth, whose story was told to history society members by Julie Chandler, was a wealthy heiress whose marriage in 1879 to Col Fred Burnaby of Bedford was one of the social events of the year. Col Burnaby was already famous for a series of well-publicised exploits and intelligence operations in Central Asia and the lavish wedding was attended by hundreds of distinguished guests. Julie’s talk included excerpts from a detailed description of the wedding published in the Luton Times.

Col Burnaby was killed in 1885 in hand-to-hand fighting in the Sudan. His wife had already developed her life-long passion for mountaineering and photography. She described her experiences in a number of books, the first being published in 1883, and founded the Ladies Alpine Club.

She was married three times and had one son, Harry, born in 1880. She died in 1934.

The history society’s next talk will be at 7.45 on Tuesday, November 12, at Dunstable Methodist Church Hall. Janice Tuckett will tell the unusual story of Sir Anthony Wingfield’s private zoo at his home in Ampthill.