Emily Caroline "Lily" Bristow (1864 – 5 August 1935) was an English mountaineer who made numerous ascents in the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

with Albert F. Mummery in the 1890s.

Early life

Bristow was born in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

, Surrey, to George Ledgard Bristow (1827-1901) and his wife, Mary. Her father was a solicitor whose estate was valued at over £80,000 at his death (which would be about £8M in 2025).

Climbing career

She made her first significant mountain ascent in 1892 when she climbed the

Aiguille des Grands Charmoz The Aiguille des Grands Charmoz (3,445 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc Massif in Haute-Savoie, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and te ...

in the Mont Blanc massif with Albert F. Mummery and his wife Mary. With their success, Bristow and Mary Mummery became the first women to climb the mountain. In 1893, Bristow climbed the

Aiguille du Grépon The Aiguille du Grépon (literally the ''Needle of Grépon''), informally known as The Grepon, is a mountain in the Mont Blanc Massif in Haute-Savoie, France. The Grepon has a Southern (3,482 m) and Northern (3,478 m) peak, which are the highest ...

—the ascent for which she was best known. This was the second-ever traverse of the Grépon, which had first been climbed by Albert Mummery two years earlier. The same year, she successfully climbed the

Aiguille du Dru The Aiguille du Dru (also the Dru or the Drus; French, Les Drus) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It is situated to the east of the village of Les Praz in the Chamonix valley. "Aiguille" means "needle" in French. The ...

, the

Zinalrothorn The Zinalrothorn at is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, Pennine Swiss Alps, Alps in Switzerland. Its name comes from the village of Zinal lying on the north side and from the German word ''Rothorn'' which means ''Red Peak''. When it was first cli ...

and 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, ...

. She was known for climbing without local guides and for occasionally leading her climbing parties' ascents. Bristow's guideless ascent of the Grépon inspired Mummery to write: "All mountains appear doomed to pass through three stages: An inaccessible peak, the hardest climb in the Alps, an easy day for a lady." It was noted that Bristow caused scandal amongst her acquaintances by choosing to share tents with men. Some have speculated that Mary Mummery later forbade her husband from climbing with Bristow, since Bristow did not accompany him on any of his 1894 expeditions, and there are no records of Bristow continuing her climbing career following his death on

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat () (; ), known locally as Diamer (), is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth and its summit is at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-a ...

in 1895.

As an artist

Bristow trained at Clapham School of Art in the latter part of the 1880s. She later enrolled at Herkomer’s Art School (1889-1891) where she lodged with another member of the art school, Edith M Petherick. Edith Petherick, who later joined the

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

movement, was the younger sister of Mary Mummery (née Petherick), the wife of Fred Mummery, with whom Bristow climbed the Grepon. Bristow's work was exhibited at the

Royal Academy 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 ...

(1894 & 1899),

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

(1889-1892) and the

Society of Women Artists The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is a British art body dedicated to celebrating and promoting fine art created by women. It was founded as the Society of Female Artists (SFA) in 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and sell ...

. She was a painter of landscapes and genre scenes in oils and watercolours. She provided some of the sketches which were used to illustrate Mummery's book "My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus".

In media

Elisa Kay Sparks has speculated that Lily Briscoe, a character in

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

's novel ''

To the Lighthouse ''To the Lighthouse'' is a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf. The novel centres on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920. Following and extending the tradition of modernist novelists like Marcel P ...

'', was named after Bristow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bristow, Lily English mountain climbers British female climbers 1864 births 1935 deaths 19th-century English women artists