Edward Shirley Kennedy (usually known as E. S. Kennedy) (1817–1898) was an English

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

and author, and a founding member of the

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...

Early life

Kennedy was a gentleman of independent means, who attended

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

as a

Fellow-Commoner A commoner is a student at certain universities in the British Isles who historically pays for his own tuition and commons, typically contrasted with scholars and exhibitioners, who were given financial emoluments towards their fees. Cambridge ...

in his mid-thirties.

Founding of the Alpine Club

During an ascent of the

Finsteraarhorn The Finsteraarhorn () is a mountain lying on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is the highest mountain of the Bernese Alps and the most prominent peak of Switzerland. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth-highest mountain and thi ...

on 13 August 1857, Kennedy discussed the formation of a national mountaineering club with William Mathews, who had corresponded with F. J. A. Hort about the idea in February 1857. At the end of that year, Kennedy was chairman of the meeting at which the

was founded (the meeting was attended by twenty of the leading British alpinists of the day, and was held at Ashley's Hotel in London on 22 December 1857). Kennedy was made Vice-President, with John Ball as President and T. W. Hinchliff as Secretary. Kennedy served as President of the Club between 1860 and 1863. Mont Blanc and Dome du Gouter

A wood engraving by

Edward Whymper Edward Whymper FRSE (27 April 184016 September 1911) was an English mountaineer, explorer, illustrator, and author best known for the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. Four members of his climbing party were killed during the descent. W ...

of ''The Alpine Club at Zermatt in 1864'' shows Kennedy with John Ball, William Mathews, T. G. Bonney, John Tyndall,

Alfred Wills Sir Alfred Wills (11 December 1828 – 9 August 1912) was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales and a well-known mountaineer. He was the third President of the Alpine Club, from 1863 to 1865. Early life Wills was the second son of Wi ...

(the Alpine Club's third president), and Ulrich Lauener. Kennedy appears as a man of above average height, with a full beard, carrying a long plain wooden staff, several inches taller than himself.

Alpinism

In 1854 Kennedy attempted the unclimbed Dom – the highest mountain entirely within Switzerland – with

Saas-Fee Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...

priest and hotel owner Abbé Joseph Imseng and two Swiss guides, but the guides were unwilling to tackle a particularly tricky passage, although both Kennedy and Imseng were happy to continue. Together with Charles Hudson, Kennedy was one of the earliest practitioners of climbing without

guides A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

, climbing

Mont Blanc du Tacul Mont Blanc du Tacul (4,248 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif of the French Alps situated midway between the Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc. The official first ascent of Mont Blanc du Tacul was by a guideless party comprising Charles Hu ...

and

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...

(by a new route) in guideless parties. Kennedy was the editor of the second series of ''Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers'' (1862). Like the first series (1858), this was a collection of papers (in two volumes) published by the Alpine Club; these were the forerunners of the ''

Alpine Journal The ''Alpine Journal'' (''AJ'') is an annual publication by the Alpine Club of London. It is the oldest mountaineering journal in the world. History The magazine was first published on 2 March 1863 by the publishing house of Longman in London ...

'', which first appeared in 1863. Kennedy was also active in discussions concerning modification to the traditional

ice axe An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used like a walking ...

, proposing a design based on the American backwoodsman's

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

First ascents

*Goûter ridge (incomplete) of

in 1854 with Charles Hudson and party *

(first official ascent) on 5 August 1855 with Charles Hudson, Edward John Stevenson, Christopher and James Grenville Smyth, Charles Ainslie and G. C. Joad * Fuorcla Crast' Agüzza. Kennedy, together with J. F. Hardy, and guides P. and F. Jenny and A. Flury, were the first to reach this col (although they did not traverse it) on 23 July 1861. *

Monte Disgrazia Monte Disgrazia or Munt Des'giascia (3,678 m) is a mountain in the Bregaglia range in the Italian Alps. It is the highest peak in the Val Masino group, situated south of the Bernina Range. It has five glaciers and five wild ridges and is a dema ...

on 23 August 1862 with

Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, and mountaineer, and the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Life Sir Leslie Stephen came from a distinguished intellect ...

and Thomas Cox, and guide

Melchior Anderegg Melchior Anderegg (28 March 1828 – 8 December 1914), from Zaun, Meiringen, was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascensionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. His clients were mo ...

Bibliography

*Edward Shirley Kennedy, ''Thoughts on Being: suggested by meditation upon the Infinite, the Immaterial, and the Eternal'' (1850) *Edward Shirley Kennedy and Charles Hudson, ''Where there's a Will there's a Way: An Ascent of Mont Blanc by a New Route and without Guides'', London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1856. Reprinted by Kessinger Publishers, June 2007, *Edward Shirley Kennedy (ed.), ''Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers: Being Excursions by Members of the Alpine Club''. (2 vols.), London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1862. Vol. 1, 8 maps, 22 wood engravings (5 full page), pp. 445; Vol. 2, 6 maps, 34 wood engravings (7 full page), pp. 541 *Edward Shirley Kennedy, 'The Ascent of Monte della Disgrazia', in ''The Alpine Journal: A Record of Mountain Adventure and Scientific Observation by Members of the Alpine Club'', Vol. 1, No. 1. ed. Hereford Brooke George, London, Longmans, 2 March 1863

Note

E. S. Kennedy should not be confused with T. S. Kennedy of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, an alpinist who made several first ascents during the same period (e.g. Dent Blanche (1862), Moine ridge of the

Aiguille Verte The Aiguille Verte (; ), which is French for "Green Needle", is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It was first climbed on 29 June 1865 by Edward Whymper, Christian Almer and Franz Biner, a fortnight before the fateful firs ...

(1865)).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Edward Shirley 1817 births 1898 deaths English book editors English sportswriters English mountain climbers Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK) Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge