Margaret Anne Jackson (née Sanderson, commonly referred to as Mrs E. P. Jackson; 27 September 1843 – 13 October 1906) was an English mountain climber. Climbing mostly in 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. ...

, she was described by

Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed (26 June 1860 – 27 July 1934), (known after her third marriage as Mrs Aubrey Le Blond and Lizzie Le Blond), was an Irish mountaineering pioneer, author, and photographer celebrated for documenting alpine landscapes. ...

as "one of the greatest women climbers of her time".

Early life

Margaret Jackson was born in 1843 to Jane and George Samuel Sanderson. In 1865, she married Edward Patten (E. P.) Jackson, the owner of a coal mine.

Career

Jackson began climbing in the 1870s with her husband; together they made the first ascents of the

Weissmies The Weissmies is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland near the village of Saas-Fee. It is the easternmost four-thousander of its range. Geography The Weissmies is located on the main Alpine chain, on a mas ...

' east face in 1876 and the

Dom Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an et ...

's west ridge in 1878. Jackson's husband died in 1881 but she continued to climb, with increasing frequency. In 1884 she, Alois Pollinger (a Swiss

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

) and Johann-Josef Truffer became the first climbers to descend the west ridge of the

Dent Blanche The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At -high, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps. Naming The original name was probably ''Dent d'Hérens'', the current name of the nearby De ...

. With Pollinger, her most frequent climbing partner, she also 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 ...

in 1886 and 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 1887. After 1887, Jackson became interested in pursuing alpine climbs in the winter season (she had previously climbed exclusively during summer). Her most famous expedition was made in January 1888: over twelve days, Jackson made the first winter ascents of the

Lauteraarhorn The Lauteraarhorn is a peak (4,042 m) of the Bernese Alps, located in the canton of Bern. Together with the higher Schreckhorn, to which it is connected by a high ridge, it lies between the valleys of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier and the Unter ...

, the Pfaffenstöckli, and the

Gross Fiescherhorn Grosses Fiescherhorn is a mountain peak of the Bernese Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais, halfway between the Mönch and the Finsteraarhorn. At above sea level, its summit culminates over the whole Fiescherhorn ...

, followed by the first winter traverse of the

Jungfrau The Jungfrau (, , , "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönc ...

—a feat that had previously been considered close to impossible. During a forced bivouac on the Jungfrau, Jackson developed severe frostbite resulting in the loss of several of her toes. Her frostbite injuries led to her retirement from serious climbing in 1889, by which time she had completed over 140 major climbs. In 1889, she wrote an account her Jungfrau expedition in the ''

Alpine Journal The ''Alpine Journal'' (''AJ'') is an annual publication by the Alpine Club of London. It is the oldest mountaineering journal in the world. History The journal was first published on 2 March 1863 by the publishing house of Longman in London, ...

'', making her the first woman to be published in the journal under her own name.

Death

Jackson died of acute

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in 1906, in her home in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

, London. Her husband had died in 1881 and they never had children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Margaret 1843 births 1906 deaths English mountain climbers British female climbers Sportspeople from Birkenhead Deaths from pneumonia in England