Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler MC (April 18, 1890 – March 19, 1962) was a Canadian surveyor, mountain climber and soldier. Wheeler participated in the first topographical survey of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

in 1921. As a brigadier in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

he was appointed

Surveyor General of India The Surveyor General of India is the Head of Department of Survey of India, a department under the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Government of India. The Surveyor General is also the most senior member of the Survey of India Service, ...

in 1941. He was knighted for the work he did surveying India. He was an accomplished

mountain climber 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 mounta ...

and on the 1921 expedition was one of the team to reach the 7000-metre

North Col __NOTOC__ The North Col (; ) refers to the sharp-edged pass carved by glaciers in the ridge connecting Mount Everest and Changtse in Tibet. It forms the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier. When climbers attempt to climb Everest via the North Rid ...

Early life

Edward Oliver Wheeler was the son of a surveyor and renowned alpinist,

Arthur Oliver Wheeler Arthur Oliver Wheeler (May 1, 1860 – May 20, 1945) was born in Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1876 at the age of 16. He became a land surveyor and surveyed large areas of western Canada, including photo-topographical surveys of the Selkir ...

a Dominion Land Surveyor, who co-founded the

Alpine Club of Canada The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) is an amateur athletic association with its national office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler, ...

and mapped

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 ...

’s

Selkirk Mountains The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mic ...

and the

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

border. His mother was Clara (née Macoun), daughter of Canadian botanist

John Macoun John Macoun (17 April 1831 – 18 June 1920) was an Irish-born Canadian naturalist. Early life Macoun was born in Magheralin, County Down, Ireland in 1831, the third child of James Macoun and Anne Jane Nevin. In 1850, the worsening econ ...

. While still a teenager, he accompanied his father to the Selkirk Mountains and learned both how to climb and the Canadian method of photo-topography developed by Dr. Edouard Deville. As a founding member of the Alpine Club of Canada, he guided new members on the initial climbs in the Rockies.

Education

He attended

Trinity College School Trinity College School (TCS) is a co-educational, independent boarding and day school located in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. TCS was founded on May 1, 1865, more than two years before Canadian Confederation. It includes a Senior School for ...

where he was chosen Head Boy. Having finished first on the admission exams to the

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, he attended that university for three years from 1907 to 1910. He finished first of his class in all three years at RMC. In his graduating year he was the battalion sergeant major, the highest rank attainable by a gentleman cadet. He was given a choice of commissions in the British Army. He became a

Royal Engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

and attended the School of Military Engineering in Chatham, UK. Upon this graduation he was posted to the 1st King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners.

Career

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he served with 1st King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners as part of the Indian Expedition Forces in 1914 and with the same forces in Mesopotamia campaign 1916-19. He was Mentioned in Despatches 7 times for actions both in France and Mesopotamia. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

and a Croix de Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. In 1919, he was seconded to the Survey of India. During this time he was a member of the 1921 Everest reconnaissance expedition, using photographic surveying techniques. His exploration of the East Rongbuk glacier led him on 3 August 1921 to realise that this provided the key to a viable route to the summit of Everest. He was one of the climbing team to reach the

. He married Dorothea Sophia Danielson in 1921. His son

John Oliver Wheeler John Oliver Wheeler (19 December 1924 – 24 May 2015) was a Canadian geologist, who spent most of his career as a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada. Family Wheeler came from a family of surveyors. His father, Sir Edward Ol ...

(1925–2015) was an award-winning

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

with the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...

. Edward came to Canada on sick leave in 1922 but returned to India in 1923. During this stay he toured Canada discussing his adventure on Everest including an address to the

Empire Club of Canada The Empire Club of Canada is a Canadian speakers' forum. Established in 1903, the Empire Club has provided a forum for many thousands of different speakers. Through a variety of presentation formats, the Empire Club invites local, national and in ...

. In 1925 further convalescing in Canada was necessary after another operation in London. He then returned to India. He rose through the positions of superintendent (1927), director (1939) and finally to surveyor-general of India (1941–1947). He was knighted in 1943.Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 35841, 1 January 1943

Personal life

Upon his retirement, he returned to Canada with his wife, and lived in Lavington, near Vernon. He was active with the Alpine Club of Canada. From 1950 to 1954, Wheeler served as president of the Alpine Club of Canada. He was a life membership of the

Alpine Club (UK) The Alpine Club was founded in London on 22 December 1857 and is the world's first list of alpine clubs, mountaineering club. The primary focus of the club is to support mountaineers who climb in the Alps and the Greater Ranges of the world's mo ...

and a member of the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 26,000 members. The club is housed in the American Mountaineering Center (AMC) in Golden, Colorado. Through its members, the AAC advocates for American climbers d ...

. Wheeler died following a stroke.

Mountain ascents of note

Publications

*Wheeler, E.O. "Mt. Babel and Chimney Peak." ''The Canadian Alpine Journal'', vol. 3, The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1911. p. 73-79. *Wheeler, E.O. "Mount Elkhorn, Strathcona Park." ''The Canadian Alpine Journal'', vol. 5, The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1913. p. 44-48. *Wheeler, E.O. "Traverse of Terrapin and West Ridge of Magog." ''The Canadian Alpine Journal'', vol. 12, The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1921-22. p. 53-55. *Wheeler, E. O. "The Photographic Survey", ''Mount Everest the Reconnaissance'', Edward Arnold, London, 1922. p. 329-337. *Wheeler, E. O. "The "Canadian" Photo-topographical Method of Survey", ''The Royal Engineers Journal'', vol. 35, The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, UK , March 1922. p. 177-185. *Wheeler, E.O. "Mt. Everest Expedition/1921." ''The Canadian Alpine Journal'', vol. 13. The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1923. p. 1-25. *Wheeler, E.O. "ACC Golden Jubilee." ''The Canadian Alpine Journal'', vol. 39, The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1956. p. 3-24. *Wheeler, E. O. ''The Survey of India during War and Early Reconstruction 1939-1946'', The Surveyor General of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1955.