Frederick Whymper (20 July 1838 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

– 26 November 1901) was a British

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

ist and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Biography

Whymper was the eldest son of Elizabeth Whitworth Claridge and

Josiah Wood Whymper Josiah Wood Whymper (Ipswich 24 April 1813 – 7 April 1903 Haslemere) was a British wood-engraver, book illustrator and watercolourist. Early life and education Born the son of a brewer, Whymper was apprenticed to a stonemason. He soon t ...

, a celebrated wood-engraver and artist. His younger brother

Edward Whymper Edward Whymper FRSE (27 April 184016 September 1911) was an English mountaineer, explorer, illustrator, and author best known for the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. Four members of his climbing party were killed during the descent. W ...

was a renowned alpinist who made the first ascent of the

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

in 1865. In his youth, Whymper was a talented artist working to produce engravings for publication and having his landscapes on exhibit at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

from 1859 to 1861. He travelled to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

in 1862 and to the

Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the Caribou (North America), caribou that were once abundant in the reg ...

in the following year. In 1864 he joined road builders in the area of

Bute Inlet Bute Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. It is long from the estuaries of the Homathko and Southgate Rivers at the head of the inlet, to the mouth, where it is nearly blocked by Stuart Island, and it averages a ...

on the Pacific Coast, leaving shortly before the

Chilcotin War The Chilcotin War, the Chilcotin Uprising or the Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) people in British Columbia and white road construction workers. Fourteen men employed by Alfred Wadd ...

. Many of his early travels were by steamship; his drawings include

volcanoes A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

and

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

glaciers A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

. While in the far north, Whymper served on the

Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition In 1864 the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition explored areas of the Colony of Vancouver Island outside the capital of Victoria and settlements in Nanaimo and the Cowichan Valley that were then unknown. The expedition went as far north as the ...

and the Western Union Telegraph Expedition (1865), spending the winter of 1866 at Nulato,

with

W.H. Dall William Healey Dall (August 21, 1845 – March 27, 1927) was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska. He described many mollusks of the Pacific Northwest of North America, ...

and travelling up the

Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...

Fort Yukon Fort Yukon (''Gwichyaa Zheh'' in Gwich'in language, Gwich'in) is a city in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska, straddling the Arctic Circle. The population, predominantly Gwich'in Alaska ...

, where he witnessed the first American flag being raised over the new territory of

. In November 1867, Whymper arrived back in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

where his account of his travels, ''Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska'', was published in 1868. In 1869, he went back to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, by way of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and worked on the staff of the newspaper ''Alta California''. City directories describe him as an artist and mining engineer, and in 1871 he was a founding member of the

San Francisco Art Association The San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) was an organization that promoted California artists, held art exhibitions, published a periodical, and established the first art school west of Chicago. The SFAA – which, by 1961, completed a long sequen ...

. He returned to

at some point, publishing ''The Heroes of the Arctic and their Adventures'' and ''The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril and Heroism'', prior to his death in London on 26 November 1901 by what is listed as "failure of the heart, probably due to indigestion, arising from sedentary pursuits", in his obituary. Mount Whymper, north of

Lake Cowichan Lake Cowichan ( Nitinaht: ʕaʔk̓ʷaq c̓uubaʕsaʔtx̣) (pop. 3,325) is a town located near the eastern end of Cowichan Lake and, by highway, is a little over one hour northwest of Victoria, British Columbia. The town of Lake Cowichan was i ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, is named in honour of the early explorer, artist and writer. Another taller Mount Whymper in British Columbia is named after his brother Edward, who was the first to climb it.

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whymper, Frederick English explorers of North America Explorers of Alaska History of Yukon 1838 births 1901 deaths Pre-Confederation British Columbia people Artists' Rifles soldiers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)