Gertrude Benham

Gertrude Benham
Historic portrait Benham
Benham in c.1934
Born
Gertrude Emily Benham

(1867-07-29)29 July 1867
London, U.K.
DiedFebruary 1938

Gertrude Emily Benham known as Truda Benham (July 1867– February 1938) was an English explorer and mountaineer.[1]

She went on to climb mountains on almost every continent. Benham was also an intrepid hiker and walked from Valparaiso, Chile, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. She went on to hike across Kenya, and traverse Africa on foot.

Benham also drew as she travelled, and her drawings were later used in mapping the countries she explored. Benham always traveled alone or with native guides, spending less than 250 British pounds a year.[2] In 1916, she was named a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Throughout her life, she climbed more than 300 mountains.[3] Notably, she was the first woman to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.[1]

Truda Peaks, one of the summits of Mount Rogers in Glacier National Park, in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, are named in her honour.[4] Her climbing boots are on display in the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery.[3]

Life

Benham was born in London, she was the youngest of six children born to Frank who was the son of John Lee Benham and Emily (born Lucas) whose father was a brewer.[2] The successful family business, Benham and Sons Ltd, established by John Lee Benham moved into making stoves and cooking equipment.[5] Her father took her on alpine climbing holidays each year and she became an experience mountaineer. She had in time to care for her parents but she managed to climb 130 mountains before her father died in 1891 and her mother in 1903. She had an inheritance that allowed her to choose her occupation and she chose travelling and mountaineering.[2]

Early travels

Mount Fay and the Fay Glacier

Benham travelled to Canada in 1904 and visited Banff, Alberta. New areas of Canada were more accessible because of the railway. She stayed on Lake Louise.[4] On 27 June, she made an ascent of Mount Lefroy with Mr Frost and her brothers Hans and Christian Kaufmann as guides. She ascended several other major peaks including the first ascent of Mount Fay.[6] She beat a rival party to the top that was led by Mr. Fay.[7] Fay was annoyed that Benham had climbed "his" mountain first and decided to climb a nearby peak instead. However Benham had already been there and the Truda Peak is named in her honour.[8][2][9]

In 1905, she climbed in the Southern Alps alone and visited Tasmania and Australia. She made her way back to England via Japan, India, Egypt and Corsica.

Kibo Summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

Benham's second trip around the World occurred in 1908. She travelled west-to-east, visiting Japan and California. She disembarked at Valparaíso, and then crossed the Andes and Pampas to arrive in Buenos Aires. In 1909, she travelled to central Africa, arriving in Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia (now Kabwe in Zambia). She walked 900 kilometres to Abercorn (now Mbala) near the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika. From there, she proceeded to Uganda and Kenya where she attempted the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro reaching 5159 metres.[2]

She funded her travels on an allowance of £250 per annum.[10] In 2025 that (1904) money might be worth £38,000 p.a.[11]

Back in Africa in 1913, she disembarked on the Niger delta and made her way to Kano, Nigeria. Her route took her through Cameroon, down the Ubangi, up the Congo to Stanleyville (now Kisangani), then through the Ituri Rainforest to Mbarara, Uganda. Diverting west through Rwanda, she ascended Mount Nyiragongo (3,470 metres; 11,380 ft) and reached the crater of an unnamed volcano that had erupted in December 1912. She climbed to the summit of Mount Mulanje in present day Malawi. She then travelled on the Nyasaland railway until she took a steamer on the River Shire to Chinde arriving in October 1913.[10]

In 1914, Benham visited India and ventured for the third time into the Himalayas. She trekked across the mountains, reaching Srinagar in Kashmir.[2]

First World War and later years

Gertrude Benham and her tent

The First World War kept her in England. She joined the Royal Geographical Society for six moths before she fell out with their expectations of her[9] and she corresponded with the Natural History Museum.

She resumed her travels in 1919. Back in India, she undertook a journey through the mountains from Nainital, near the western border of Nepal, to Leh in Ladakh. In 1921 she travelled to East Africa, where she ascended Mount Elgon. She then voyaged to Australia and the South Pacific, returning to England in October 1923, and ending her fifth trip around the world.

In 1924 she was back in India receiving several refusals from the Anglo-Indian administration to her requests to enter Tibet.[10]

Started her sixth trip around the world in 1926. She visited Natal, Zanzibar, Sudan, Egypt, Syria, India, Malaya and the East Indies. She arrived in Hong Kong in 1927, crossed the Pacific to arrive in California, and explored Guatemala, Belize, the West Indies and Trinidad. She disembarked at Plymouth, in 1928. Later that year, she visited Taiwan, Burma (Myanmar), Celebes, Java and China.

She tried again in 1929 to enter Tibet and go back to the Himalayas, but permission was not granted. She made a third attempt to enter the Himalayas, this time, through the mountains of Kumaon beyond the western border of Nepal.

Benham circumnavigated the globe a seventh time in 1933, passing by the British port of Hong Kong and in California before travelling south to Mollendo in Peru and Valparaíso in Chile.[10]

Benham presented the Benham Collection to the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery in 1934. She chose Plymouth because she had been impressed on a visit to the museum. Her collection consisted of hundreds of items, including jewellery, costumes, accessories, metalwork, lacquer ware, ceramics, toys and religious articles. It is believed that other items may still be discovered.[12]

Last journey and death

Benham started her "last journey" in 1935.[9] She travelled to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), New Zealand and returned via Hong Kong and India. In 1937, she boarded a ship from Sri Lanka to South Africa.[2] Benham died in February 1938 on board a ship bound from Africa to England. She was buried at sea and her obituary appeared in the Times ten months later.[13]

In 2019 the New York Times ran her obituary noting that she had been overlooked by the media.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Duncan, Joyce (2002). Ahead of their time a biographical dictionary of risk-taking women. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. OCLC 937277091.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Howgego, Raymond John (4 October 2008), "Benham, Gertrude Emily [Truda] (1867–1938), traveller and collector", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57169, ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8, retrieved 14 August 2025
  3. ^ a b "Overlooked No More: Gertrude Benham, Who Climbed the World One Mountain at a Time". The New York Times. 24 July 2019. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b Rolfe, Helen (2003). Women Explorers: One Hundred Years of Courage and Adacity. Heritage House Publishing Co. ISBN 978-1-55153-873-0.
  5. ^ Records of Benham and Sons Ltd, 66 Wigmore Street, commercial catering equipment manufacturers, 1905-1960. Records of James Slater and Company Ltd, 50-51 Wells Street, heating & ventilation & commercial equipment manufacturers, 1897-1931. 1897–1960.
  6. ^ Williams, Chris (2005). "'That Boundless Ocean Of Mountains': British Alpinists and the Appeal of the Canadian Rockies, 1885-1920". International Journal of the History of Sport. 22 (1): 81. doi:10.1080/095233605200314601. S2CID 144126888. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  7. ^ Rolfe, Helen (2003). Women Explorers: One Hundred Years of Courage and Adacity. Heritage House Publishing Co. ISBN 978-1-55153-873-0.
  8. ^ "BC Geographical Names". apps.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d "Overlooked No More: Gertrude Benham, Who Climbed the World One Mountain at a Time (Published 2019)". 24 July 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d Howgego, Raymond John (2009). 'very quiet and harmless traveller': Gertrude Emily Benham 1867-1938:. ISBN 0 904788 24 5.
  11. ^ "£250 in 1904 → 2025 | UK Inflation Calculator". www.in2013dollars.com. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  12. ^ "Gertrude Emily Benham (1867-1938) - English Mountaineer, Traveller and Collector". ILAB - FR. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  13. ^ 'Miss G. E. Benham', The Times, 16 December 1938, p.18.

Further reading

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