Cape to Cairo Grogan

 Ewart Grogan was born in London on 12th December 1874, his father's (William) fourteenth child, the first with his second wife, Jane.  It seems that the family was fiercely proud of their Irish ancestry that could be traced back to a John Grogan of Antrim.  By the late 1700s they held Ardcandrisk Estate and Johnstown Castle in Wexford but Cornelius, the owner, was executed for his part in the 1798 rebellion against the Crown.  His brother fought on the other side and was killed in the Battle of Arklow.

Ewart's great-grandfather left Ireland for London and his son, Nicholas, became established in business as a wine merchant and was followed by his son's great success in Real Estate, being appointed as Surveyor General of Houses and Buildings for the Duchy of Lancaster by Queen Victoria. This was William, Ewart's father.

As his mother's first born, he was doted upon in the family and as a result developed a boundless self confidence. Prep school was Grove House, near Guildford, followed, at about age 13, by Winchester.  Here he was academically precocious but his diminutive stature limited his success on the games field where he played some rugby and cricket.  He excelled at rifle shooting and his interest may have been first stimulated by A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa and by King Solomon's Mines and he was determined to get to Africa and experience the hunt for 'Big Game'.

In 1891 he contracted measles. Complications set in and on doctor's orders he was taken out of school for an extended period of rest. Eventually his health stabilised. He then decided (regarding himself now as head of the family) to forsake the shackles of school and depart for Switzerland for the sake of his health.  The plan seemed to work as soon as he reached Zermatt and by his second summer there he had put on four stone in weight and had grown to almost six feet in height. From  a diminutive and sick teenager he had become a strong and competent mountaineer.

See Edward Paice Lost Lion of Empire   for details of Grogan's life.

The time he spent in Switzerland, the seasons from 1892 to 1895 are of most interest here.  The 'grumpy old recluse' that he met and befriended by the hotel fireside turned out to be Edward Whymper who provided advice and lessons on high altitude snow and ice technique.  Alfred Mummery was also there and instructed Grogan on rock climbing skills.

His ascents in 1892, according to his Alpine Club membership application, were:                           Gramont, Dent de Jaman, Dent de Morcles, Petite Dent de Morcles (twice - second time without guides), Diablerets, Grand Moeveron.

1893 -Petits Dent de Morcles, Diablerets,  Dent Jeune/Cime de l'Est, Matterhorn Shoulder (repulsed by bad weather).

At his mother's insistence that he should continue his education he enrolled in Jesus College, Cambridge in 1893.  While there he played rugby and and athletics - hammer throwing and high jump - mainly, it seems to keep fit for his mountaineering endeavours.

In 1894 he was back in the Alps and he had an impressive season: Pierre Cabotz & Tete a Pierre Grept (same day), Matterhorn, Weisshorn, Riffelhorn, Rothotn (traverse), Obergabelhorn (traverse), Dom, Dent Blanche, Petite Aiguille de Charmoz (twice, 1st traverse without guides), Aig de Blaitiere, Grand & Petite Dru (traverse).  The Weisshorn climb almost ended in disaster when he fell into a crevasse and underwent a long drawn rescue.

1895 was to be an eventful year in his life.  It saw the death of his beloved mother to whom he was deeply attached.  Also, following a number of outrageous 'pranks' he was 'sent down' from college.  All this did not impinge on his climbing, for he went back to the Alps for another season of climbing - Rimpfischhorn, Monte Rosa (Nordend), Matterhorn, Dent d'Herens, Riffelhorn (4 times, twice by new route, 1st time without guides).

The result of these endeavours resulted in his being elected as a member of the Alpine Club in 1896 whose profession was recorded as 'undergraduate'.  He was, then, the youngest member of the club.  On the recommendation of his erstwhile guides (Sommermatter and Perron) he was also elected to the Swiss Alpine Club.

Having thus met the challenge of the mountains his mountaineering ambitions seem to have been fulfilled.  Grogan never climbed in the Alps, or anywhere else, again.

Courtesy: Alpine Club

Subsequently he went to Africa and became renowned for being the first person to walk from Cape Town to Cairo, the full length of the continent, spending two and a half years doing so and facing many dangers and 'adventures' from wild animals and native peoples along the way.

See Edward Paice Lost Lion of Empire   for details of this part of Grogan's life and

From the Cape to Cairo by Ewart S. Grogan and Arthur H. Sharp with illustrations by A.D. Mc Cormick

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Henry Swanzy

Henry Swanzy (1841-1906) was a scion of the family of Henry Swanzy who came to Ireland with the army of William III (of Orange) in 1689 and settled in Co Monaghan.  His father (also Henry) was curate in Youghal in 1835 when he married Elizabeth Green (aunt of Willliam S Green).  Henry, born in December, 1841,  was cousin (once removed) to the latterly famous artist Mary Swanzy and was Rector of Castlemagner, Co Cork, for 35 years.

There seems to be very little information available on his early years.  He attended Mr Wall's school in Portarlington for a time and then Rathmines School under Mr Benson, before entering Trinity College in 1861 from where  he graduated BA in 1865 and MA in 1868. Ordained Deacon in 1866, then priest in 1868, he was curate in Kilshannig from 1866 to 1871.

His first foray to the Alps was in 1870 when he joined his cousin, W.S. Green and another Irish clerical gentleman, J.S. Lyle, and climbed the Brevant.  They went on that season to cross a number of Switzerland's notable passes (Col d'Herens, Adler and Grimsel Passes) and climbed two 4,000m peaks - Finsteraarhorn and Monte Rosa, with eminent guides, Alexander Burgener and Peter Knubel.

There appears to be little mountain activities in the following years. However as a member if the British Association for the Advance of Science (now the British Science Association) he is likely to have had a serious interest in scientific matters and when that association held its annual meeting in Canada in 1884 he attended, along with another Irish climber and naturalist Richard M. Barrington.  In a post conference excursion they travelled to Lake Louise (Courtesy of Canadian Pacific Railway) from where Swanzy and Barrington continued on foot on the proposed route of the rail line through 170 miles of the Rocky Mountains. The trek took 17 days, crossing the Roger's Pass to Shuswap Lakes and Kamloops.

The Canadian mountains may have greatly impressed him for in 1888, at his suggestion and along with his cousin, W.S Green, he set off again in what was probably the first all Irish expedition team to explore and map any mountain range outside Europe. They spent from mid July to early September in the mountains, much of the time surveying the hitherto unexplored part of the Selkirk Range 'lying immediately south of the Canadian Pacific railway track and enclosed by the highest peaks of the Selkirks' in the region of the Illecillewaet Glacier.  It was particularly difficult terrain, especially below the tree line and on one occasion they spent seven hours in travelling 1.5 miles.

On Mt Bonney

Swanzy hunting.

Swanzy leading

 They used pack horses to carry their 'gear' and sought the   services of a 'packer'.  When 'some mighty hunter expressed   a desire to join us...when he heard we were two parsons he "chucked it up" in disgust... he would have to knock off   swearing for a month and that that was utterly impossible". 
 When their badly packed horse took a fall, smashing much   of  their technical equipment, they would have given their   erstwhile packer "permission to swear for five minutes   without stopping".

(Illustrations from Among the Selkirk Glaciers, Aquila Books, Calgary - reprint)

Despite such misadventures  they completed the survey, made a first ascent of a 3,000m summit (they named Mt Bonney for the Alpine Club president) and named numerous topographical features that retain the name to this day (Mounts Dawson, Fox, Donkin, Deville -later changed to Selwyn, Macoun - for Prof John Macoun, Dominion Botanist and Naturalist who assisted them, born in Co Down in 1831). Marion Lake was named for Green's daughter and Lily Glacier for Swanzy's daughter.  Mount Swanzy (1895) and Mt Green (by A.O.Wheeler) were later named in their honour.

After their survey work they spent time in the Lake Louise area and it was at their suggestion that an hotel be located there that resulted in the subsequent construction of what is now Chateau Lake Louise.

https://www.chateau-lake-louise.com/

Further details of the survey are available in Frank Nugent's In search of Peaks, Passes and Glaciers

On their return to Ireland it was Green who gained fame as a result of the expedition from his lectures and the resulting book Among the Selkirk Glaciers. Swanzy seems to have faded into relative obscurity and it might be wondered if they ever hiked again in the mountains of Cork and Kerry in Ireland.

  

Mt Swanzy. Wikipedia

Mt Green. Wikipedia

                                                                                                  

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