Bot at 22:55, 27 March 2022

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{{about||the American actor and professional American football defensive back|Fred Williamson|the Liberty ship|SS Frederick E. Williamson}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Frederick Williamson
|honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]]
|image = Frank Ludlow, George Sherriff and Frederick Williamson.jpg
|caption = Frederick Williamson (closest to right)
|birth_date = {{birth date|1891|01|31|df=yes}}
|birth_place =
|death_date = 1935
|death_place =
|other_names =
|known_for = Founding member of the Himalayan Club
|occupation =
|nationality = British
}}
'''Frederick Williamson''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CIE}} (1891–1935) was a British Political Officer stationed in [[Sikkim]], [[Bhutan]], and [[Tibet]] in the 1930s.<ref>Obituary in ''The Times'', ''Mr Frederick Williamson'', 19 November 1935, p. 19.</ref><ref name="WWW">{{Cite web|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-219224|title=Williamson, Frederick, (31 Jan. 1891–17 Nov. 1935), ICS; Indian Political Department; Political Officer in Sikkim since 1931|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|year=2007|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U219224|isbn=978-0-19-954089-1}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/08/15/in-memoriam-21/ |title=In Memoriam|work=himalayanclub.org |accessdate=8 July 2015}}</ref> He was also an explorer and a founding member of the Himalayan Club.<ref name="auto"/> It was 'largely owing to his influence and the esteem in which he was held in [[Lhasa]]' that Tibet permitted the [[1935 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition|1935]] and [[1936 British Mount Everest expedition|1936]] [[Mount Everest|Mount Everest Expeditions]].<ref name="auto"/> His life was cut short by a chronic illness which occurred in Lhasa during November 1935 on a mission to negotiate a settlement between Tibet and [[Thubten Choekyi Nyima, 9th Panchen Lama]].<ref name="auto"/> On the announcement of his death, the Government of India stated that 'it robbed the Government of a most valuable officer'.<ref name="auto"/>

==Life==
Williamson was born on 31 January 1891 and educated at [[Bedford Modern School]] and [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]].<ref name="WWW" /> He entered the [[Civil Services of India|Indian Civil Service]] in 1914, serving in [[Bihar]] and [[Orissa, India|Orissa]].<ref name="WWW" /> At the outbreak of [[World War I]], he saw military duty with the Gurkha Rifles in India (1915–16) and [[Mesopotamia]] (1916–18) where he was wounded.<ref name="WWW" /> He saw service in Palestine and Egypt (1918–19) where he was [[Mentioned in dispatches|mentioned in despatches]].<ref name="WWW" />

After World War I he held appointments in Bihar (1919–22), was Secretary to the British [[Resident (title)|Resident]] of [[Mysore]] (1922), and was Secretary to the British Resident of [[Hyderabad]] (1923).<ref name="WWW" /> He later became the British Trade Agent at [[Gyantse]] (1924) and Assistant to the [[List of political officers in the Kingdom of Sikkim|Political Officer in Sikkim]].<ref name="WWW" /><ref name="auto"/> His obituary in ''The Times'' states that he 'quickly felt the attraction of the romance and mystery' of those lands, and 'in his close study of the customs, folklore, and languages of the people followed in the footsteps of [[Charles Alfred Bell|Sir Charles Bell]]'.<ref name="auto"/>

[[File:Kula Kangri from Moenla Karchung 1933·.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Kula Kangri from Moenla Karchung 1933]]

In 1926, Williamson was made Officiating Political Officer in Sikkim and, in 1927, Consul-General to Kashgar, a position he held until 1930.<ref name="auto"/> In 1931, Williamson returned to [[Gangtok]] as [[List of political officers in the Kingdom of Sikkim|Political Officer in Sikkim]]. His brief life was cut short by a chronic illness which occurred in Lhasa during November 1935 on a mission to negotiate a settlement between Tibet and [[Thubten Choekyi Nyima, 9th Panchen Lama]].<ref name="auto"/> On the announcement of his death, the Government of India stated that 'it robbed the Government of a most valuable officer'.<ref name="auto"/> His obituary in ''The Times'' states that he may well 'have wished nothing better than to end his days where his heart was—amid the eternal snows of Tibet'.<ref name="auto"/>

In 1933, Williamson married Margaret Dobie Marshall who had accompanied him on his travels.<ref name="auto"/> Margaret Williamson wrote a memoir of their life in Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan.<ref name="auto"/>

==Explorer==
[[File:The Trapchi Regiment.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Trapchi Regiment]]
A keen explorer, Williamson was a founder member of the Himalayan Club.<ref name="auto"/> In Kashgar and Gangtok he explored unknown routes<ref name="auto"/> and in 1928 established a new route from Yarkand to the Kara-Tash Valley by way of Kichik Karaul.<ref>''[[Himalayan Journal]]'', vol. iii, 1931, p. 36.</ref> In 1933 he travelled in [[Bhutan]] with his wife, crossing the Great Himalayan range into Tibet via Mon-La-Kar-Chung La, the difficult glacier pass.<ref name="auto"/>

It was 'largely owing to his influence and the esteem in which he was held in Lhasa' that Tibet permitted the [[1935 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition|1935]] and [[1936 British Mount Everest expedition|1936]] [[Mount Everest|Mount Everest Expeditions]].<ref name="auto"/>

On his travels, Williamson and his partner and future wife were prolific photographers.<ref name="digitalhimalaya.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/collections/williamson/|title=Digital Himalaya: Williamson Collection|work=digitalhimalaya.com|accessdate=8 July 2015}}</ref> Between December 1930 and August 1935, they took approximately 1700 photographs throughout the Himalayan region.<ref name="digitalhimalaya.com"/> The photographs they took are at the [[University of Cambridge]] and are described as 'providing an unusually well-preserved and well-catalogued insight into social life in Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet during the 1930s'.<ref name="digitalhimalaya.com"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book|author=Williamson, Margaret D.|year=1987|title=Memoirs of a Political Officer's Wife in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan|publisher=Wisdom|location=London|isbn=978-0-86171-056-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsofpolitic00will}}

==External links==
*[http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/collections/williamson/ The Williamson Collection]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Frederick}}
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:Indian Political Service officers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:People educated at Bedford Modern School]]

Frederick Williamson - Revision history

Bot at 22:55, 27 March 2022