Douglas Robert Hadow (30 May 1846 – 14 July 1865) was a British novice

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

who died on the descent after the

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

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, ...

Family

Hadow was born in 1846 at 49 York Terrace,

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

, London, the son of Patrick Douglas Hadow (Chairman of the P. & O. Steam Navigation Company) and Emma Harriett Nisbet (daughter of

Robert Parry Nisbet Robert Parry Nisbet JP DL (1793 – 31 May 1882) was a British public man. He was High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1849, from 1852 a Deputy Lieutenant for the county, and Conservative Member of Parliament for Chippenham from a by-election in 1856 ...

, of Southbroom House,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

), who married at Southbroom on 28 January 1845. Hadow's paternal great-grandfather was

George Hadow George Hadow (4 July 1712 – 11 September 1780) was professor of Hebrew and oriental languages at St Mary's College, University of St Andrews, Scotland from 1748 to 1780. He was the son of Principal James Hadow, also of St Andrews' University. ...

, professor of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and

Oriental Languages Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates. The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Japonic, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turkic, ...

at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, and one of his younger brothers was

Frank Hadow Patrick Francis "Frank" Hadow (2 January 1855 – 29 June 1946) was an English tennis player, who won the Wimbledon championship in 1878. Personal life Born 2 January 1855 Regent's Park, his father was Patrick Douglas Hadow who was educated at ...

, who won the

Wimbledon championship The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

in 1878. Hadow was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, where he and six of his brothers who also attended the school were known as the 'Harrow Hadows'.

First season in the Alps

In 1865, at the age of nineteen, Hadow undertook his first trip to the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

as a protégé to Charles Hudson, a clergyman from Skillington in Lincolnshire, and a leading advocate of guideless climbing. Together they made a swift ascent of

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

and other climbs; these ascents – together with the backing of a climber of Hudson's stature – persuaded

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 ...

that Hadow was a suitable companion for an attempt on the

. Whymper later wrote: In 'A Modern View of the 1865 Accident', the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

president Capt. J. P. Farrar (1917–19) concurred with this positive estimation of Hadow's ability:

Matterhorn accident

During the first ascent of the Matterhorn on 14 July 1865, Hadow was, however, challenged by the technical difficulties presented by the mountain. Whymper noticed his inexperience after the party had traversed onto what he termed the 'north-west face' whilst ascending the mountain. In a piece published by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' shortly after the accident, he wrote: Hadow's slip on the descent of the mountain was the immediate cause of the accident. He was the second on the rope as the party went down and he slipped not far from the summit, dragging three members of the party (

Lord Francis Douglas Lord Francis William Bouverie Douglas (8 February 1847 – 14 July 1865) was a novice British mountaineering, mountaineer. After sharing in the first ascent of the Matterhorn, he died in a fall on the way down from the summit. Early life Born ...

Michel Croz Michel Auguste Croz (22 April 1830 in Le Tour, Chamonix valley – 14 July 1865, on the Matterhorn) was a Chamoniard mountain guide of the Kingdom of Sardinia and the first ascentionist of many mountains in the western Alps during the golden ag ...

and Charles Hudson) with him down the north face of the mountain to their deaths. The other three members of the party – Whymper and Swiss guides Peter Taugwalder and his son of the same name – were saved when the rope between them and Douglas snapped. Claire Engel commented: Hadow's body was recovered from the Matterhorn Glacier and he was buried at the churchyard in

Zermatt Zermatt (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the German language, German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is cl ...

. One of Hadow's shoes can be seen in Zermatt's

Matterhorn Museum The Matterhorn Museum is a cultural-natural museum in Zermatt whose main theme is the Matterhorn. The museum is in the form of a reconstituted mountain village consisting of 14 houses (church, hotel, huts and granaries), and relates the history an ...

, together with the snapped rope and other relics of the climb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadow, Douglas Robert 1846 births 1865 deaths British mountain climbers People educated at Harrow School Mountaineering deaths Sport deaths in Switzerland Deaths on the Matterhorn