Emily Hornby (1833 – 1906) was an English travel writer and mountaineer.

Early life

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She was born December 1833 in Liverpool[1] where her father, Thomas Hornby M.A. (1801-1890), was curate of St. George's Liverpool (1832-47) and later vicar of Walton On The Hill, Lancashire (1847-1890).[2] Her mother was Margaret Rigby (1800-1857). She had three younger sisters, Mary Louisa Hornby (1835-1913),[3][4] Edith Agnes Hornby (1839-1894) and Frances Margaret Hornby (1841-1924), who would often accompany her on her travels.[5]

Mountaineering and travel

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Emily Hornby, from A Tour in the Alps of Dauphiné

She was climbing mountains from 1873 to 1895, including Mont Blanc (4807m), Monte Rosa (4634m), Eiger (3967m) and Jungfrau (4158m).[6][7] She was the eighth woman to climb the Matterhorn (4,478m) in 1875,[8] climbing with Alois Pollinger. She climbed with Pollinger in 1875-1877 and in 1879.[9][10] In 1890 Emily was climbing in the Dolomites.[11]

In 1899 and 1901 she travelled to Petra and Sinai, sailing on the Nile in 1905 with her sisters Mary and Frances.[12][13][14] Her book of her travels to Sinai include watercolour sketches by Frances.[15] Her travels up the Nile were published posthumously in 1906, and reprinted in 1908 with drawings by Frances.

Personal life

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After the death of their father in 1890 three of the sisters, Emily, Edith and Frances, left Walton. In about 1893 they moved to Ham, Surrey, where they rented The Manor House.[16] After the death of Emily in 1906, Frances lived briefly in Evelyn Road before buying Orford House on Ham Common about 1909.[17][18]

Emily died on 13 April 1906 at The Manor House, Ham, Surrey, leaving £67,774 in her will.[19] Her cremated remains were interred at St Andrew's Church, Ham.[20]

Books

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  • A Tour in the Alps of Dauphiné and A Tour in the Carpathians (1906). Liverpool: J. A. Thompson
  • Sinai and Petra: The Journals of Emily Hornby in 1899 and 1901 (1907). London: J. Nisbet, Liverpool: J. A. Thompson
  • Mountaineering Records (1907). Edited by Montague Leyland Hornby. Liverpool: J. A. Thompson
  • A Nile Journal (1908). Liverpool: J. A. Thompson

References

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  1. ^ "Baptisms at St Paul in the City of Liverpool". Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks.
  2. ^ "Death of the Vicar of Walton". Liverpool Mercury. 23 December 1890. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via British Library Newspapers.
  3. ^ "Deaths". Times. 5 April 1913. p. 1. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ^ "Miss Hornby". Times. 5 April 1913. p. 11. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  5. ^ Burke, Bernard (1862). A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland for 1852 : comprising particulars of upwards of 100,000 individuals (4th ed.). London: Harrison. p. 721 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Roche, Clare (2015). "The Ascent of Women: How Female Mountaineers Explored the Alps 1850-1900" (PDF). CORE.
  7. ^ Hornby, Emily (1907). Mountaineering records (PDF). Liverpool J.A. Thompson.
  8. ^ Whymper, Edward (1880). The Ascent of the Matterhorn. London: John Murray. p. 316 – via Project Gutenberg.
  9. ^ Dangar, D F O (1950). "The fuhrerbuch of Alois Pollinger" (PDF). Alpine Journal: 524–537.
  10. ^ Mazel, David (1994). Mountaineering Women: Stories by Early Climbers. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 9780890966167.
  11. ^ Theakstone, John (2003). "Annotated Bibliography of Selected Works by Women Travelers, 1837-1910" (PDF). Victoria Research Web.
  12. ^ Manley, Deborah (2013). Women Travelers in Egypt: From the Eighteenth to the Twenty-first Century. American University in Cairo Press.
  13. ^ Kennedy, David (3 August 2016). "Travellers 'East of Jordan' in the 19th Century". East of Jordan.
  14. ^ "Catalogue of the papers of E.M. Hornby" (PDF). Durham University Library. November 2016.
  15. ^ "Three ladies and a dragoman". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 17 January 1907. p. 5. THREE LADIES AND A DRAGOMAN Sinai and Petra : the Journals of Emily Hornby in 1899 and 1901. (London: James Nisbet and Co., Ltd., 21, Berners Street, W.) (fo.) In 1899 Miss E. Hornby and two sisters journeyed to Sinai from Suez across the desert, encouraged by the experiences of Mrs. Gibson and Mrs. Lewis. Two years later the same trio visited Petra and the neighbourhood, starting from Jericho and bathing in the Dead Sea on their return journey. The journals now published are brightly written, and give a pleasant account of both tours. The water-colour sketches by Miss F. M. Hornby—the artist of the party—add a special attraction; and those which have to do with Petra—" the rose-red city, half as old as Time —are amongst the most effective.
  16. ^ Feverel, Austin (5 September 1908). "Ham Manor House and its associations, II". Surrey Comet. Richmond Local Studies, Cuttings vol 9, page 177.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  17. ^ Pritchard, Evelyn (1995). "The history of St Michael's Convent, Ham Common". Richmond History. 16: 47–51.
  18. ^ Frood, Margaret (25 October 2015). "Decision as to tribute to the gallant dead". Ham Remembers.
  19. ^ "County Jottings". Surrey Advertiser. 29 August 1906. p. 2.
  20. ^ "Funeral of Miss Hornby". Richmond and Twickenham Times. 21 April 1906. p. 7.
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