A Liverpool Exemplar - Lucy Walker

Lucy Walker

 

Lucy Walker was born in 1836, in British North America, later to become Canada, when her parents, mother, Jane McNeil McMurdo, moved from Scotland to North America with her husband and infant daughter in 1836. Mrs McMurdo left her husband to live with Francis (Frank) Walker and Lucy Walker and her brother Horace were born before their parents moved to England. The McMurdos divorced in 1841, and Frank Walker and Jane McMurdo married on 24 April 1841. The family then moved to Liverpool, where Frank Walker became a lead merchant. Lucy began her climbing rather modestly in 1858 when she was advised by her doctor to take up walking as a cure for rheumatism. The family would base themselves at a variety of locations where they would be able to walk and climb. Lucy's father, Frank, and her brother, Horace, were early members of the Alpine Club and had become well-known climbers throughout this pioneering period in which the major peaks of the Alps were being ascended for the first time. Lucy then expressed a desire to climb the Altels, a 3,629m peak in Switzerland and her father suggested that Melchoir Anderegg would be the best guide to accompany them. The climb was a success and so began Lucy’s mountaineering career and her first of many ascents with Melchoir who was Swiss and the only guide she ever climbed with and, accompanied by her father and her brother, she became the first woman to regularly climb in the Alps.

Lucy standing next to her father. Her mother sits in the middle alongside Melchior Anderegg and Lucy's brother Horace -  c1860s

Her achievements were, at first, largely unnoticed except by those in her immediate company. Mountain activities were generally considered to be foolhardy and definitely not for a lady. It also wasn't seen as acceptable for Lucy to be alone with unrelated males during these excursions, so her climbing parties always included a family member. A further handicap she had to endure was that she was expected to climb in a voluminous skirt, for modesty. Early successes included the first ascent of the Balmhorn in 1864 and the first female ascent of the Eiger on the 25th of July 1864, the Wetterhorn in 1866 and Piz Bernina in 1869. In 1871 her long-standing guide, Melchior Anderegg, learned that a contemporary Meta Brevoort, an American female mountaineer, was planning an expedition to climb the Matterhorn. Lucy's party hastily rearranged their plans and she started the ascent wearing a long flannel skirt, with trousers underneath, in keeping with the morals of the day. On the 21st of July, she became the first woman to stand atop the Matterhorn, and with it gained world renown. She had already claimed a list of first ascents of European peaks between 1860 and 1870 before she added the Taschhorn to the list in 1873. She holds first female ascents on 16 summits, including Monte Rosa, the Strahlhorn, and the Grand Combin, and a first ascent for either sex on the Balmhorn, which she completed in 1864.  Lucy like many other women climbers was a good linguist, speaking German, French and Italian, and also had a penchant for champagne and would get through several bottles during the course of an expedition.

The Walker Family with friends and guides, 1870. Lucy is in the back row, third from the left.

 

All in all Lucy completed a total of 98 expeditions and in 1909 she became a member of the newly formed Ladies' Alpine Club where she was acclaimed as the pioneer of women climbers. In 1913 she was elected its second President and served in that capacity until 1915. When asked why she had never married, her typically direct reply was, "I love mountains and Melchoir and Melchoir already has a wife!" Lucy continued to climb until her mid-forties, when a doctor advised her to stop for health reasons that are now unknown. She continued to walk in the Alps long after her climbing career and acted as a mentor to younger climbers, encouraging them to write about their experiences.

Lucy died at her home at South Lodge, Prince's Park in Liverpool on Saturday the 10th of September 1916 and was buried the following Tuesday at St. James's Cemetery. She was at the forefront of female alpinism and loved mountains and the excitement of climbing possessing great strength, endurance and determination and was an inspiration, especially for other women climbers.

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/09/a-liverpool-exemplar-joseph-mayer.html