Burnaby Monument - Birmingham, UK
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Superted
N 52° 28.849 W 001° 53.906
30U E 574809 N 5815088
Quick Description: The Portland stone obelisk standing more than 50 feet high is a memorial to Colonel Frederick Burnaby is in the churchyard of St Philips Cathedral, Temple Row, Birmingham.
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 1/15/2009 4:09:48 AM
Waymark Code: WM5JT2
Views: 1
Long Description:On the side of the obelisk are the names and dates of his two
military campaigns in Egypt and the Sudan. The front face has a
three-quarter relief portrait of him in uniform set within a
medallion directly below the carved military regalia at the base of
the obelisk. The is a rather serious looking portrait and contrasts
with the portrait of Burnaby by Tissot where he is a dashing
figure.
Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby (March 3, 1842 – January 17,
1885), was an English traveller and soldier:-
He was born in Bedford, the son of the Rev. Gustavus Andrew
Burnaby of Somersby Hall, Leicestershire, and canon of Middleham in
Yorkshire (15 July 1872), by Harriet, sister of Mr. Henry Villebois
of Marham House, Norfolk (1883). He was educated at Bedford School,
Harrow and Oswestry School and in Germany. He entered the Royal
Horse Guards in 1859. Finding no chance for active service, his
spirit of adventure sought outlets in balloon-ascents and in
travels through Spain and Russia. In the summer of 1874 he
accompanied the Carlist forces as correspondent of The Times, but
before the end of the war he was transferred to Africa to report on
Gordon's expedition to the Sudan. This took Burnaby as far as
Khartoum. Returning to England in March 1875, he matured his plans
for a journey on horseback to the Khanate of Khiva through Russian
Asia, which had just been closed to travellers. His accomplishment
of this task, in the winter of 1875-1876, described in his book A
Ride to Khiva, brought him immediate fame. His next leave of
absence was spent in another adventurous journey on horseback,
through Asia Minor, from Scutari to Erzerum, with the object of
observing the Russian frontier, an account of which he afterwards
published. In the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, Burnaby (who soon
afterwards became lieutenant-colonel) acted as travelling agent to
the Stafford House (Red Cross) Committee, but had to return to
England before the campaign was over.
In 1879 he married Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed, who had inherited
her father's lands at Greystones, Ireland. The previously-named
Hawkins-Whitshed estate at Greystones is known as The Burnaby to
this day. At this point began his active interest in politics, and
in 1880 he unsuccessfully contested a seat at Birmingham in the
Tory-Democrat interest. In 1882 he crossed the English Channel in a
hot air balloon. Having been disappointed in his hope of seeing
active service in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882, he participated in
the Suakin campaign of 1884 without official leave, and was wounded
at El Teb when acting as an intelligence officer under General
Valentine Baker. This did not deter him from a similar course when
a fresh expedition started up the Nile. He was given a post by Lord
Wolseley, and met his death in the hand-to-hand fighting of the
Battle of Abu Klea.