Charles Howard-Bury

Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury DSO, DL, JP (15 August 1881 – 20 September 1963) was an British soldier, explorer, botanist and Conservative politician.

Background and education

A member of the Howard family, he was born at Charleville Castle, King's County, Ireland, the only son of Captain Kenneth Howard-Bury (1846–1885), son of the Honourable James Howard. His mother was Lady Emily Alfreda Julia, daughter of Charles Bury, 3rd Earl of Charleville. His father had assumed the additional surname of Bury in 1881 after his wife succeeded to the Charleville estates. He was educated at Eton and Sandhurst.

Career until 1921

Howard-Bury was always interested in climbing as a youth, which led him to take up the larger routes in Austrian Alps. He joined the 60th Rifles in 1904 and was posted to India, where he went travelling and big game-hunting. In 1905 he secretly entered Tibet without permission and was rebuked by Lord Curzon. His early travel diaries date from 1906 and show his keen powers of observation, encyclopaedic knowledge of natural history, and linguistic ability

1921 Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition

At the behest or Sir Francis Younghusband in 1920, Howard-Bury successfully paved the way for the Everest Expedition. In 1921 he was the leader of the Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition, organised and financed by the Mount Everest Committee, a joint body of the Alpine Club and...
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