The Formative Years
- Born in London in August 1881, a descendent
of the illustriousHoward, Bury and Campbell families Parents,
Captain Kenneth Howard and Lady Emily Bury, who met during a
botanical expedition in Algeria
- “ . . . the brat is enormous and ugly
and it squalls like hell.”
Father, died in 1884
-
“My darling boy, I am afraid there is no chance
of me being permitted to live long enough for you even to remember me,
and this I need not tell you is a very great grief to me, as I had been
so looking forward to having you as my companion in my walks, and
telling you all about the birds and plants, flowers and fishes like my
father did when I was a little boy, and I want you to grow up a manly
boy, fond of all these things as well as of your books.” (Kenneth
Howard-Bury, 1884)
- Served with distinction at the Somme;
captured at Ypres
- Epitomised the spirit of Victorian
exploration by traversing what is commonly referred to as Eurasia
- Plant collector, photographer and big
game huntsmen
Linguist, becoming fluent in 27 European and Asian
languages
- Anthropologist, blessed with lively
descriptive powers, tireless curiosity and a keen eye for detail –
having produced diaries of all of his excursions
- Exploratory career culminated in
leading the first expedition to Everest in 1921, and the subsequent
‘discovery’ of the Abominable Snowman
- Returned to Britain to become MP for
Bilston (1922-1924)
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Quotes about Bury
- "Bury was a man of discretion and decorum, typical of a generation of men unprepared to yield their feelings to analysis, and quite unwilling to litter the world with themselves.
- Individuals so confident in their masculinity that they could speak of love between men without shame, collect butterflies and flowers in the dawn, paint watercolours in late morning, discuss poetry in the early afternoon"
- Bury was a man of discretion and decorum, typical of a generation of men unprepared to yield their feelings to analysis, and quite unwilling to litter the world with themselves.
- Individuals so confident in their masculinity that they could speak of love between men without shame, collect butterflies and flowers in the dawn, paint watercolours in late morning, discuss poetry in the early afternoon and at dusk still be prepared to assault the German trenches or the flanks of the highest mountain in the world.” (Wade Davis, Explorer) "
A map showing Tian Shan Mountains
today
Howard-Bury inspects the penny bus from
Kuldja to Suidum:
A tea house in Kuldja,
taken by Charles
Howard-Bury:
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Early Exploration
- 1905, when stationed in India, obtained
leave for a hunting trip in the Tian Shan Mountains. Beforehand, Howard-Bury slipped into the
forbidden land of Tibet – reading the works of the Krishnamuriti he
visited the shrine guardians of Lhasa and met the Dhalai Lama
- Upon his return to India, he fell foul of
the British Government and Lord Curzon, who punished Howard-Bury by
cancelling future leave
- 1906, embarked on a pilgrimage along the
Ganges, receiving teachings from Sanskrit scholars
- Shot and killed a man-eating tiger that had
carried off and eaten 21 ‘fakirs,’ or holy men
- 1907, obtained necessary permits from the
Russian Tsars to enter the region of the Pamirs and Turkestan
- Expanded his knowledge of European, Indian
and ‘Oriental’ languages – becoming fluent in 27 dialects
- 1912, inherited Belvedere House, Mullingar,
from his mother – resigning from the Army to devote his talents to
travel and exploration
- 1913, finally set out on a 6 month tour in
the Remote Tian Shan Mountains – journey took him by the
Trans-Siberian Railway to Omsk, by steamer through newly settled
Siberia, by horse carriage to Kuldja, and then on horseback into the
mountain hunting grounds of the Kazaks.
- Wrote impressive diaries.
-
Bury Adopted
Agua small Brown Bear
who would be a life long
companion
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