Mount Victoria is the highest point in the

Owen Stanley Range The Owen Stanley Range is the south-eastern part of the central mountain-chain in Papua New Guinea. Its highest point is Mount Victoria at , while its most prominent peak is Mount Suckling. History Owen Stanley Range was seen in 1849 by Captai ...

s in Central Province,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

at . It lies approximately 75 km north-north-east of

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

and can be seen on a clear day from the city. The Mountain was named in honour of the British

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

by Commander Charles B Yule.

History

Originally known as just the ''Great Mountain'' there had been several attempts to scale the peak by British colonialists in the 1880s. These attempts had failed after clashes with local villagers. The first successful recorded ascent was in 1889 by the

British New Guinea The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Colony of Queensland, Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government ...

Administrator, Sir William MacGregor. MacGregor had been in the territory as Administrator for only six months before he was compelled to launch an expedition to climb the mountain for himself. Starting on 17 May 1889, MacGregor approached the mountain from the west via the Vanapa River. His party included his private secretary J.B Cameron, a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

n half-caste and thirty-eight Papuans and Polynesians. After ascending two smaller mountains, Mount Musgrave and Mount Knutsford, MacGregor eventually climbed the ''Great Mountain'' on 11 June and promptly renamed it Mount Victoria in honour of

. Brisbane-born Chas C. Baines in 1953 led a team of native carriers on a successful ascent. He had taken leave from his post as Port Moresby-based radio technician for Radio 9PA.

Notes

References

* Victoria {{PapuaNewGuinea-geo-stub

History

See also

Notes

References