St. George Littledale

Clement St. George Royds Littledale (8 December 1851 – 16 April 1931) and his wife Teresa Harris (Scott) (1839–1928) were known in their time as the greatest British Central Asia travellers of the nineteenth century.

He hunted horned game, the sheep and goats, that lived in the mountains of the northern hemisphere, and he collected for the Natural History Museum in London.

Shooting his way through the West Indies and across the United States, he collected birds and mammals for the Liverpool Museum.

Born into a pioneer family, she was the youngest of 12 children of John and Amelia Harris of Eldon House, London, Ontario.

These trips were followed by expeditions in the late 1880s in the Caucasus, the Pamirs, and Russian Central Asia and Mongolia (Alai and Altai).

In addition to mammals, they collected birds, insects, reptiles, fish, and long lists of plants for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

Although the Foreign Office approved his proposal, the Government of India rejected it, so the Littledales changed their plans and went to Russian Central Asia and Mongolia.

It was the height of the Great Game, a cold war between Russia and Britain over the vast lands known as Central Asia.

[5] The rivalry between the two powers was approaching its climax in that remote desolate region and the Littledales' feat created a sensation in the press.

Along the way Littledale measured Ulugh Muztagh, a high mountain in the remote Kun Lun range of northern Tibet, but exaggerated its height.

They were within 49 miles of Lhasa, closer than any other foreigners since Huc and Gabet in 1846, until Sir Francis Younghusband marched in with the British Army in 1904.

In June 1896 the Royal Geographical Society awarded its Patron's Medal to St. George Littledale for his three great expeditions.

In 1897 the Littledales travelled with Prince Elim Demidov[7] and his wife Sofia to Siberia and the Mongolian Altai.

In 1901 he went to the Tien Shan alone and brought home a large collection of mammals, including a record Asiatic ibex.

In 1903 the Littledales visited New Zealand, where St. George suggested that the climate and terrain were suitable for the importation of certain game animals.

[8] During his main expedition years, Littledale donated 122 mammals to the Natural History Museum from the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Kamchatka.

Both museums had already received numerous other trophies over the years as well as quantities of birds and the mammals included many record heads.

After Littledale died, the Natural History Museum selected 94 additional trophies from about 150 that filled his home, Wick Hill House in Bracknell, Berkshire.

It was written by Sir Francis Younghusband, symbol of British exploration in Central Asia and of the Great Game.

St. George Littledale, Elim Demidov and his wife Sofiaon the sandspit at Petropavlovsk, Russia