Frederick Gustavus Burnaby

Frederick Gustavus Burnaby
Portrait of Burnaby by James Tissot

Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby (3 March 1842 – 17 January 1885) was an English traveller and soldier.

Contents

Life

He was born in Bedford, the son of the Rev. Gustavus Andrew Burnaby of Somersby Hall, Leicestershire, and canon of Middleham in Yorkshire († 15 July 1872), by Harriet, sister of Mr. Henry Villebois of Marham House, Norfolk († 1883). He was educated at Bedford School, Harrow, Oswestry School (where he was a contemporary with Spooner), and in Germany. He entered the Royal Horse Guards in 1859. Finding no chance for active service, his spirit of adventure sought outlets in balloon-ascents and in travels through Spain and Russia. In the summer of 1874 he accompanied the Carlist forces as correspondent of The Times, but before the end of the war he was transferred to Africa to report on Gordon's expedition to the Sudan. This took Burnaby as far as Khartoum. Returning to England in March 1875, he matured his plans for a journey on horseback to the Khanate of Khiva through Russian Asia, which had just been closed to travellers. His accomplishment of this task, in the winter of 1875-1876, described in his book A Ride to Khiva, brought him immediate fame. His next leave of absence was spent in another adventurous journey on horseback, through Asia Minor, from Scutari to Erzerum, with the object of observing the Russian frontier, an account of which he afterwards published. In the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, Burnaby (who soon afterwards became lieutenant-colonel) acted as travelling agent to the Stafford House (Red Cross) Committee, but had to return to England before the campaign was over.

In 1879 he married Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed, who had inherited her father's lands at Greystones, Ireland. The previously-named Hawkins-Whitshed estate at Greystones is known as The Burnaby to this day. At this point began his active interest in politics, and in 1880 he unsuccessfully contested a seat at Birmingham in the Tory-Democrat interest. In 1882 he crossed the English Channel in a hot air balloon. Having been disappointed in his hope of seeing active service in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882, he participated in the Suakin campaign of 1884 without official leave, and was wounded at El Teb when acting as an intelligence officer under General Valentine Baker. This did not deter him from a similar course when a fresh expedition started up the Nile. He was given a post by Lord Wolseley, and met his death in the hand-to-hand fighting of the Battle of Abu Klea. Henry Newbolt's poem "Vitaï Lampada" is often quoted as referring to Burnaby's death at Abu Klea; "The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel's dead...", although it was a Gardner machine gun which jammed.[1]

Works

(both with an introduction by Peter Hopkirk)

  • Practical Instruction of Staff Officers in Foreign Armies, published 1872
  • A Ride across the Channel, published 1882
  • Our Radicals: a tale of love and politics, published 1886
  • Regular contributions to The Times, Vanity Fair and Punch from 1872 onwards

Notes

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Frederick Gustavus Burnaby — Frederick Gustavus Burnaby. Gemälde von James Tissot um 1875 Frederick Gustavus Burnaby (* 3. März 1842 in Bedford; † 17. Januar 1885 bei Abu Klea) war ein britischer Militär, Reisender und Schriftsteller …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Burnaby (surname) — Burnaby is an English surname shared by several people.* Edwyn Burnaby (1798 1867), an English landowner and British Army officer ** son Edwyn Sherard Burnaby (1830 ndash;1883), British Army General and Member of Parliament ** daughter Louisa… …   Wikipedia

  • Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed — (1860 July 27, 1934) was a British pioneer of mountaineering in 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.She came from an upper class background, being the… …   Wikipedia

  • Jacques Joseph Tissot — James Tissot: Selbstporträt (Detail), um 1898 Edgar Degas: Porträt James Tissot, um 1867 James Tissot (eigentlich Jacques Joseph Tissot; * …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • James Tissot — James Tissot: Selbstporträt (Detail), um 1898 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Greystones — Infobox Irish Place name = Greystones gaeilge = Na Clocha Liatha crest motto = Gníomhach idir Carraig is Crúacha Active between rock and mountain peaks map pin coords = left: 90px; top: 29px north coord = 53.144 west coord = 6.072 irish grid =… …   Wikipedia

  • Oswestry School — Motto We learn not for school but for life Established 1407 Type Independent School Religion Non …   Wikipedia

  • 1885 — Portal Geschichte | Portal Biografien | Aktuelle Ereignisse | Jahreskalender ◄ | 18. Jahrhundert | 19. Jahrhundert | 20. Jahrhundert | ► ◄ | 1850er | 1860er | 1870er | 1880er | 1890er | 1900er | 1910er | ► ◄◄ | ◄ | 1881 | 1882 | 1883 | 18 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Nekrolog 1885 — Weitere Ereignisse | Nekrolog (Tiere) Dies ist eine Liste im Jahr 1885 verstorbener bekannter Persönlichkeiten. Die Einträge erfolgen innerhalb der einzelnen Daten alphabetisch. Tiere sind im Nekrolog für Tiere zu finden. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bedford — infobox UK place country = England latitude= 52.1337 longitude= 0.4577 official name= Bedford population = 79,190 shire district= Bedford shire county = Bedfordshire region= East of England constituency westminster= Bedford post town= BEDFORD… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”