User:JackPower1/sandbox

Life:

Elizabeth Hawkins defied all societal practice in becoming one of the first females of her generation to partake in the sport of mountaineering. She was born an only child, in Killincarrick House, Greystones, Co. Wicklow where she inherited the land and estate of Killincarrick after her fathers passing in 1871. At this stage, she was aged 11. Hawkins married at the age of 18, a soldier, Colonel Frederick Burnaby. She gave birth to their first child a year later, after she had recovered from a serious lung illness. However, the pair began to lead separate lives not long after, as Elizabeth travelled abroad endeavouring to find a remedy for her illness. In 1881, she arrived in Switzerland where her search continued for a remedy for her illness. Coincidentally, this is where her career as a mountaineer would begin, shortly after she arrived. She ascended over two thirds of Mont Blanc in her first climb, where she would continue her career for the best part of 20 years, climbing north of 100 peaks in total. As afore mentioned, during these times mountaineering was not seen as an appropriate sport or past-time for women. The Alpine Club formed in 1857 (which she would later become president of the female club) did not enroll female members. As a result of this, when she would begin her climbs, she would wear a skirt, only changing this outfit when she could no longer be seen by fellow ascenders. Mountaineering was but one of Elizabeth’s many past times. Her other most documented hobby was photography. As a result of climbing these mountainous regions, she was exposed to many views and sight (hence why a lot of her early photography taken incorporated snow). Many pieces of her photography work were later published in the books that she wrote, which Jack has covered. After her then husband Fred was killed in the Battle of Sudan in 1985, she was very shortly married again in 1986, this time to a French mathematician Jean Main. This marriage was cut short also however when Main died six years later, Elizabeth becoming a widow for the second time in a short space of time. Shortly preceding this time, she was appointed president of the Ladies Alpine Club, a club formed to ‘promote mountain climbing for women’, and based herself out of St. Moritz where she also played an important role throughout the community, making her an extremely popular figure. She was appointed president as a result of her continuous strife for making mountaineering more suitable and acceptable for women. Well known for her courage and judgement, which paved the way for future female generations to embark on a career viewed as somewhat unsuitable for them. Further to her climbing and photography career, she tried her hand at other sports and activities, including skating and cycling. She was the first woman to pass the St. Moritz Skating Association test for men. Elizabeth’s final marriage forged in 1900, to French philosopher Frances Aubrey Le Blond, who was ten years her junior. They embarked on a life of extensive and worldwide travel, frequently visiting the United States and Canada, as this was where her son had migrated to and lived. Together they also travelled to China, Japan and Egypt. This journey spanned over two years until the First World War where she subsequently worked in a French military hospital in Normandy in the north of France. Her marriage to Frances Bernard lasted until her death more than 30 years later in 1934. Right up until death she was active, visibly through her creation of her memoirs a year previous.