Exploring - British Female Explorers and Travellers

16 British females who were explorers and /or travellers.

Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope (1776-1839) was one of the most famous travellers of her age - she visited many countries in the near and Middle East including Egypt and Syria.

Isabella Lucy Bird FRGS (1831-1904) born in England. From early childhood she was so frail an open air life was recommended. Aged 16 she began her writing career. In 1854 she went to the USA. In 1872 to Australia and moved on to Hawaii and climbed 2 mountains. In 1873 she covered 800 miles on horseback in the Rockies. In 1880 she went to Asia, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaya.In 1889 went to India. 1891 to Persia and Armenia - explored the Karun river. 1904 visited Morocco. She died in Edinburgh on 7 October 1904.

Elizabeth Sarah Mazuchelli (1832-1914) English traveller and writer. She is said to be the first western woman to see Mount Everest.

Mabel Virginia Anna Bent (1847-1929) spent 2 decades travelling, collecting and researching remote regions of the eastern Mediterranean,Asia Minor, Africa and Arabia.

Mary Henrietta Kingsley (1862-1900 was a writer and explorer.She travelled throughout West Africa and helped shape the European perception of both African cultures and British colonialism in Africa. her 2 books gained her respect and prestige with her peers.

Annette Mary Budgett Meakin (1867-1959) was the first English woman to travel to Japan on board the Trans-Siberian railway.

Gertrude Emily Benham (1867- 1938) was a explorer who hiked and climbed mountains across the world. . She climbed mountains on almost every continent, her boots are displayed in Plymouth’s Museum.

Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell CBE (1868-1926)was a traveller, writer, and an archaeologist. She travelled, explored and mapped Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and Arabia.

Gabrielle Maud Vassal (1880- 1959) was a naturalist. With her husband in 1903 she moved to Vietnam and later to French colonies in Africa. For a period of 30 years she supplied numerous specimens from Vietnam, Gabon and the Congo to the Natural History Museum in London.

Charlotte Mansfield (1881-1936) known for her planned 1909 ‘Cape to Cairo’ journey which she never completed - she only reached as far as Lake Tanganyika before returning to South Africa.

Enid Gordon- Gallien (1885-1931) was an adventurer and pilot who was awarded the Back Award in 1930 for her expedition in Tanganyika.

Grace Marguerite Hay Drummond-Hay (1895-1946) the first woman to travel around the world by air in a zeppelin.

Beryl Markham (1902-1986) she was the first person to fly solo ,non-stop across the Atlantic from GB to N.America.

Beryl Smeeton (1905-1979)and her husband Miles tried everything! (see list)

Felicity Ann Dawn Aston MBE FRGS (born 1977) she has raced across both the Arctic and Antarctic. First to ski solo across the Antarctic (2011).

Laura Bingham (born 1993) best known for leading the first descent of the Essenquibo River in Guyana