John Travers Mends Gibson (3 March 1908 – 23 October 1994) was an English

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled afte ...

, scholar, academic and a distinguished British

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

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 ...

Early life and career

Gibson was the son of naval officer Charles Gibson and Emmeline Mary Fletcher and was born on 3 March 1908. He studied at Mowden Preparatory School in Brighton before he was sent in 1921 to

Haileybury and Imperial Service College Haileybury is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) near Hertford in England. It is a member of the Rugby Group and, though originally a major boys' public school in the Victorian era, it is now co-educational, enrol ...

for schooling and later joined the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. At Cambridge, he earned a half blue in fencing. He almost made it to the British Olympic Team. In 1929, he began his career as a professor in Chillon College, Switzerland, responsible for teaching pupils History and winter sports. While at the college, he became a member of the famed Swiss Alpine Club. When the college suffered due to economic downturn, Gibson went on to teach at

Ripon Grammar School Ripon Grammar School is a co-educational, boarding and day, selective grammar school in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. It has been named top-performing state school in the north for nine years running by ''The Sunday Times''. It is one of the ...

. He remained at Ripon from 1932 until 1936, until 1935 under the headship of

James Dyson Sir James Dyson (born 2 May 1947) is a British inventor, industrial designer, farmer, and billionaire entrepreneur who founded Dyson Ltd. He is best known as the inventor of the dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the princi ...

, whom he admired. It was at Ripon that he met

Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey William Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey, (15 February 1872 – 1 June 1969) known as Sir Malcolm Hailey between 1921 and 1936, was a British peer and administrator in British India. Education Hailey was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and ...

, who encouraged him to apply to

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mod ...

in India which had newly opened for Indian boys. He applied to Doon and was offered the post of a housemaster. He joined Doon in January 1937 as the housemaster of Kashmir House. Apart from being a housemaster, he also taught Geography to Doon pupils. He took a brief leave while at Doon to fight in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

for the Royal Indian Naval Reserve. Thereafter, he also served as Principal of the Joint Services Wing, which is now the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

. As Principal, he gave a concrete shape to the academic and extra-curricular activities there and was fondly remembered by all, more so by the cadets undergoing training. Three of the first NDA Course cadets (Gen SF Rodrigues, Admiral L Ramdas and Air Chief Marshal NC Suri) who happened to become Chiefs of the three Services respectively around the same time, together paid a courtesy visit to him in Ajmer where he had settled. He stayed in Doon till 1953, before he was appointed as Principal of

Mayo College Mayo College (informally Mayo) is a boys-only independent boarding school in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. It was founded in 1875 by Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was the Viceroy of India from 1869 to 1872. This makes it one of the oldest pu ...

, Rajasthan. He is widely credited to have brought Mayo College to national prominence. He remained in Mayo for 15 years till 1969. After retiring, he wrote extensively for 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 ...

and the Himalayan Club Journal.

Mountaineering career highlights

* 1937 – Gibson along with his Doon School colleague

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

reached the

Bandarpunch Bandarpunch (lit. Hindi: ''Monkey's tail'') is a mountain massif in the Garhwal Himalaya in Uttarakhand, India. The massif has 3 peaks: White Peak (6102 m), also called Banderpunch II, to the west above Yamunotri; almost 5 km east is Ba ...

summit ridge for the first time, with

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; perhaps 29 May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. He was one of the first two people known to reach the su ...

, who later became the first man to climb

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

. In Tenzing's autobiography, he mentions Gibson several times as "my old friend Mr. Gibson". * 1946 – Gibson was a member of the mountaineering enthusiasts at Doon along with

Gurdial Singh Gurdial Singh Rahi (''Gurdi'āl Sigh''; 10 January 1933 – 16 August 2016) was an Indian writer and novelist who wrote in Punjabi. He started his literary career in 1957 with a short story, "Bhaganwale." He became known as a novelist when he p ...

, J.A.K. Martyn and R.L. Holdsworth. He was a member of many successful expeditions, including to

Kamet Kamet ( hi, कामेत) is the second highest mountain in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India, after Nanda Devi. It lies in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand. Its appearance resembles a giant pyramid topped by a flat summit area w ...

and

Trisul Trisul is a group of three Himalayas, Himalayan mountain peaks of western Kumaon division, Kumaun, Uttarakhand, with the highest (Trisul I) reaching 7120m. The three peaks resemble a trident - in Sanskrit, Trishula (weapon), Trishula, trid ...

. * 1970-1973- Gibson served as President of the Indian mountaineering club called the Himalayan Club. He was also a 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 ...

Honours and distinctions

Gibson was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

by Queen Elizabeth II in 1960, and in 1965 received

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, the fourth-highest civilian award in India, from the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

for his contributions towards education. It was a rare achievement to have been honoured by both the governments.

References

External links

Jack Gibson Memorial Website

An Indian Englishman:Jack Gibson

Essay by Jack Gibson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Jack 1908 births 1994 deaths English writers English mountain climbers English explorers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge The Doon School faculty Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from East Preston, West Sussex

Early life and career

Mountaineering career highlights

Honours and distinctions

See also

References

Further reading

External links