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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Lizzie Le Blond |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Born | 26 June 1860 Greystones, Ireland |
| Died | 27 July 1934 Llandrindod Wells, Wales |
| Occupation(s) | photographer, autobiographer |
| Spouse(s) | Frederick Burnaby (1879–1885) John Frederick Main (1886–1892) Francis Bernard Aubrey Le Blond (1900) |
| Climbing career | |
| Type of climber | mountaineer, alpinist, winter climbing |
| Updated on 8 July 2020 | |
Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed (26 June 1860 – 27 July 1934),[1] usually known after her third marriage as Mrs Aubrey Le Blond and to her climbing friends as Lizzie Le Blond,[1] was an Irish pioneer of mountaineering at a time when it was almost unheard of for a woman to climb mountains. She was also an author and a photographer of mountain scenery.[2]
She came from an upper-class background, being the daughter of Captain Sir St Vincent Hawkins-Whitshed, 3rd Baronet (1837–1871) (see Hawkins-Whitshed baronets) by his wife Anne Alicia (née Handcock) (1837–1908), and further back was descended from the aristocratic Bentinck family, and was therefore related to the Dukes of Portland.
She grew up in Greystones, County Wicklow, in the south-east of Ireland, where her father owned quite a bit of land. However, her father then died, leaving no other children, while she was still a minor, and the Lord Chancellor took her on as his ward.
Elizabeth moved to Switzerland, where she climbed mountains and has since become well known for photos showing her climbing in a skirt.[3] In 1907, she took the lead in forming the Ladies' Alpine Club and became its first president. She wrote seven books on mountain climbing and over her lifetime made twenty first ascents, reaching the summits of peaks not previously climbed.
As Mrs Aubrey Le Blond she made at least ten films of alpine activities in the Engadine Valley in Switzerland, including ice hockey at St Moritz and tobogganing on the Cresta Run. She is probably among the world's first three female film-makers, after Alice Guy and contemporary with Laura Bayley. Her films were shown by James Williamson at Hove Town Hall in November 1900, being included in his catalogue in 1902, and were praised by the film pioneer Cecil Hepworth and the writer E. F. Benson.
She married three times: first, in 1879, to Frederick Burnaby (1842–1885); second, in 1886, to John Frederick Main (died 1892); and finally, in 1900, to Francis Bernard Aubrey Le Blond.[1] From her first marriage, she had a son Harry Burnaby, in 1880. Despite her second and third marriages, the lands at Greystones that she had inherited from her father (before marriage) were to be known as the Burnaby Estate. This part of Greystones (The Burnaby) was developed after 1900. It includes Burnaby Road, Somerby Road, as well as Whitshed, St Vincent's Road, Portland Road and Hawkins Lane. She published accounts of her climbing under the names Mrs. Fred Burnaby, Mrs. Main, and Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond.
She published her autobiography Day In, Day Out in 1928.
- ^ a b c "Women's Museum of Ireland | Articles | Elizabeth (Lizzie) Le Blond". womensmuseumofireland.ie. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ Thompson, Simon (2010). Unjustifiable risk? : The Story of British climbing. Milnthorpe: Cicerone. p. 71. ISBN 9781852846275.
- ^ "Greystones woman climbed mountains in a skirt so not to offend". The Irish Times. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2023.