Captain Harry Willes Darell de Windt (9 April 1856 – 30 November 1933) was an explorer and travel writer. His books were published under the name of Harry de Windt.
Early life
Harry de Windt was born on 9 April 1856 in Paris. He was the son of Capt. Joseph Clayton Jennyns de Windt, of
Blunsdon Hall, between Swindon and Highworth in Wiltshire, England, and Elizabeth Sarah Johnson. Among his siblings was sister
Margaret Alice Lili de Windt
Margaret, Lady Brooke, White Ratuh Consort of Sarawak (born Margaret Alice Lili de Windt; 9 October 1849 – 1 December 1936) was the Ranee of the second White Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke. She published her memoir, ''My Li ...
, who married
Charles Brooke.
He was admitted to
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
in 1875, but did not take a degree, travelling with his brother-in-law.
Career
From 1876 to 1878, de Windt served as
aide-de-camp to his brother-in-law,
Charles Brooke,
Rajah of Sarawak
The White Rajahs of Sarawak were a hereditary monarchy of the Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak as a sovereign state, located on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo in Maritime Southeast Asia, from 1841 to 1946. Of ...
.
In April 1897, while attempting to travel by land from New York to Paris, he became seriously ill at
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
after enduring exposure and poor treatment at
Tchuktchis,
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...
.
In July 1902, he reached Dawson after traveling from
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
on a river steamer with Viscount Desclinchams, Belgrade of Paris, George Harding (an English photographer),
and Stephen Rastorguyef (a Russian from
Yakutakat who "the Russian government insisted should accompany De Windt through the wilds of Siberia").
Personal life
On 18 July 1882 at
St George's, Hanover Square
St George's, Hanover Square, is an Church of England, Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London ...
in London, Harry married Frances Laura Arabella Long. The couple had a daughter, Margaret, in 1884 and divorced in 1888. He married Hilda Frances E. Clark, who died, without issue, in 1924. Three years later he married the actress Charlotte Elizabeth Ihle, better known by her stage name Elaine Inescourt.
Harry died at
Bournemouth
Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
on 30 November 1933.
Works
''On the equator'' (1882)''From Pekin to Calais by land'' (1889)''A ride to India across Persia and Baluchistan'' (1891)''Through the gold-fields of Alaska to Bering Straits'' (1898)ref>
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''From Paris to New York by land'' (1903), 1904 2nd printing*
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:De Windt, Harry
1856 births
1933 deaths
Legion of Frontiersmen members
English travel writers
De Windt, Harry
Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
British expatriates in France