fbpx
Wikipedia

Clinton Thomas Dent

October 21, 2023

Clinton Thomas Dent FRCS (7 December 1850 – 26 August 1912) was an English surgeon, author and mountaineer.[1][2]

Clinton Thomas Dent

Early life Edit

The fourth surviving son of Thomas Dent, he was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge.[3]

Alpinism Edit

Alongside Albert Mummery, Dent was one of the most prominent of the British climbers who attempted the few remaining unclimbed mountains in the Alps in the period known as the silver age of alpinism. As an alpinist, Dent was very different from Mummery:

[He] lacked the other's fiery touch, nor did he yield to the call of the mountains with Mummery's zest. Dent's expeditions had an almost austerely classic perfection ... While Mummery's alpine career hardly met with any ill will from the mountains until the very end, Dent had to wage a long and protracted war against his greatest conquest, the Dru.[4]

Dent's first ascents in the Alps include the Lenzspitze (4,294 m) in the Pennine Alps in August 1870, with Alexander Burgener and a porter, Franz Burgener (of whom Dent wrote 'his conversational powers were limited by an odd practice of carrying heavy parcels in his mouth'),[5] and the Portjengrat (Pizzo d'Andollo, 3,654 m) above the valley of Saas-Fee in 1871. On 5 September 1872 the combined parties of Dent and guide Alexander Burgener, with George Augustus Passingham, and his guides Ferdinand Imseng and Franz Andermatten, made the first ascent of the south-east ridge of the Zinalrothorn (4,221 m); this is the current voie normale on the mountain.[6]

 
The Aiguille du Dru

He then turned his attention to the Aiguille du Dru (3,754 m), a steep granite peak in the Mont Blanc massif that had been ignored by the early generation of alpinists whose ambitions had been focused more on the higher mountains. After eighteen failed attempts with a number of different guides and companions (during which he used ladders to overcome difficulties),[7] Dent at last made the first ascent of the Grande Aiguille du Dru (the higher of the mountain's two summits) on 12 September 1878, with James Walker Hartley and the guides Alexander Burgener and Kaspar Maurer.[8] He wrote of the Dru:

Those who follow us, and I think there will be many, will perhaps be glad of a few hints about this peak. Taken together, it affords the most continuously interesting rock climb with which I am acquainted. There is no wearisome tramp over moraine, no great extent of snow fields to traverse. Sleeping out as we did, it would be possible to ascend and return to Chamonix in about 16 to 18 hrs. But the mountain is never safe when snow is on the rocks, and at such times stones fall freely down the couloir leading up from the head of the glacier. The best time for the expedition would be, in ordinary seasons, in the month of August. The rocks are sound and are peculiarly unlike those of other mountains. From the moment the glacier is left, hard climbing begins, and the hands as well as the feet are continuously employed. The difficulties are therefore enormously increased if the rocks be glazed or cold; and in bad weather the crags of the Dru would be as pretty a place for an accident as can well be imagined.[9]

Together with British alpinists such as Mummery, A. W. Moore and D. W. Freshfield, Dent was involved in the pioneering of climbing in the Caucasus, where he made the first ascent of Gestola (4,860 m) with W. F. Donkin in 1886. Writing in the Alpine Journal a year later, Dent strongly encouraged the members of the Alpine Club (of which he was President from 1886 to 1889[1]) to travel to the region:

To those that have the health, strength, experience and energy, I can but say – THERE, in that strange country, those giant peaks wait for you – silent, majestic, unvisited. Would you revive in all their freshness the pleasures which the founders of our [British Alpine] Club discovered thirty years ago? If the old feeling still is as strong as I think, as I know it to be, go there. If you love mountains for their own sakes; if you like to stand face to face with Nature where she mixes sublimity of grandeur and delicacy of beauty in perfect harmony; if these sights fill and satisfy you of themselves – go there! If you prefer the grandeur, with some of the rough edges knocked off (and carried away in tourists' pockets); if you choose rather to play at travelling and roughing it, you will stay at home in the Alps. You will have missed much, and your mountains education will have been imperfect. If you think your temper is perfectly equable – go there; you will be undeceived, and your family circle may benefit therefrom. If you wish to be far from the madding crowd, far from the noise, bustle, and vulgarity of the buzzing, clustering swarms of tourists – go there. Nature will, as it were, take you gently by the hand and seem to say, 'I am glad to welcome you; come, and you shall look upon sights that I don't choose to show to everybody. Yet more, I will make a present of them to you; and in after times you shall call up in memory recollections of me, as I can be when in the mood, and you shall hug these memories with delight and even dream on them with enthusiasm.' If you wish for this – go there. To the end of your days you will remember it with pleasure. Go there![10]

Dent may have been the first person to have written – in his book Above the Snow Line (1885) – that an ascent of Mount Everest was possible.[11] According to Geoffrey Winthrop Young, 'He has often been quoted as saying that the Alps were exhausted as far back as the 1880s, and he once wrote me a friendly warning not to attempt new Alpine ways, "since there is really nothing left worth risking much for"'.[12] He also took part in the establishment of the Alpine distress signal in 1894.[5]

In Who's Who 1912, Dent gave his recreations as "mountaineering and travel, or any form of hard exercise; art collecting; photography".[1]

Medical career Edit

Dent was a well-known Senior Surgeon at the St George's Hospital medical school, London, Consulting Surgeon at the Belgrave Hospital for Children, Chief Surgeon to the Metropolitan Police from 1904, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.[1] The University of Cambridge awarded him the honorary degree of MCh.[1] He wrote extensively, and his publications include studies of post-surgical insanity and heart surgery, and an account of the wounded in the Transvaal War, to which he had been posted as a correspondent for the British Medical Journal.[13] He also had a special interest in dermatology.[14]

Death Edit

Dent died at the age of 61 after a 'mysterious attack of blood poisoning' and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.[5] There is a memorial tablet to him on the Britannia Hut above Saas-Fee.[15]

Publications Edit

  • Dent, Clinton Thomas, 'The Ascent of Gestola', in On the Edge of Europe: Mountaineering in the Caucasus, ed. Audrey Salkeld, Mountaineers Books, 1994, ISBN 0-89886-388-0
  • Dent, Clinton Thomas, Above The Snow Line: Mountaineering Sketches Between 1870 And 1880, Kessinger Publishing, 2007, ISBN 1-4304-9731-9
  • Dent, Clinton Thomas, Mountaineering, London: Longmans, Green, 1892.[16] 2nd edition (pp. xx + 439, with 2 pages of advertisements, 13 plates and illustrations in text by H. G. Willink and others, with contributions by W. M. Conway, D. W. Freshfield, C. E. Mathews, C. Pilkington, F. Pollock). Republished by Kessinger Publishing, 2007, ISBN 1-4304-9727-0
  • Dent, Clinton Thomas and Christian Albert Theodor Billroth, Clinical Surgery. Extracts from the reports of surgical practice between the years 1860–1876, translated and edited, with annotations, by C. T. Dent and C. A. T. Billroth, New Sydenham Society, vol. 94

References Edit

  1. ^ a b c d e DENT, Clinton Thomas[permanent dead link] in Who Was Who 1897–2006 online at Credo Reference (accessed 7 January 2008)
  2. ^ "Dent, Clinton Thomas". Who's Who. Vol. 59. 1907. p. 472.
  3. ^ "Dent, Clinton Thomas (DNT868CT)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  4. ^ Engel, p. 144
  5. ^ a b c Dumler and Burkhardt, p. 63
  6. ^ Dumler and Burkhardt, p. 136
  7. ^ Dent wrote: 'We used our ladders repeatedly and frequently, but only to shorten our way up, while exploring the mountain. When we actually climbed it, we used one ladder in one place.' Clinton Thomas Dent, 'The History of an Ascent of the Aiguille du Dru', Alpine Journal, Vol. IX, reprinted as 'The First Ascent of the Dru', in Peaks, Passes and Glaciers, ed. Walt Unsworth, London: Allen Lane, 1981, p. 62
  8. ^ Engel, p. 137
  9. ^ 'The First Ascent of the Dru', p. 61
  10. ^ The Alpine Journal 13, May 1887
  11. ^ From Sight to Summit:
  12. ^ G. W. Young, 'Mountain Prophets', Alpine Journal, Vol. LIV, reprinted in Peaks, Passes and Glaciers, ed. Walt Unsworth, London: Allen Lane, 1981, p. 137
  13. ^ J G Jones and J S M Zorab (July 2003). (PDF). Royal College of Anaesthetists, Bulletin. 20: 980–983. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2007.
  14. ^ [1] 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Engel, p. 289
  16. ^ "Review of Travels amongst the Great Andes of the Equator by Edward Whymper and Mountaineering by C. T. Dent". The Quarterly Review. 175: 348–371. October 1892.

Bibliography Edit

  • Dumler, Helmut and Burkhardt, Willi P. (1994) The High Mountains of the Alps. London: Diadem. ISBN 0906371430
  • Engel, Claire (1971) Mountaineering in the Alps, London: George Allen and Unwin

External links Edit

October 21, 2023
clinton, thomas, dent, frcs, december, 1850, august, 1912, english, surgeon, author, mountaineer, contents, early, life, alpinism, medical, career, death, publications, references, bibliography, external, linksearly, life, editthe, fourth, surviving, thomas, d. Clinton Thomas Dent FRCS 7 December 1850 26 August 1912 was an English surgeon author and mountaineer 1 2 Clinton Thomas Dent Contents 1 Early life 2 Alpinism 3 Medical career 4 Death 5 Publications 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External linksEarly life EditThe fourth surviving son of Thomas Dent he was educated at Eton College and Trinity College Cambridge 3 Alpinism EditAlongside Albert Mummery Dent was one of the most prominent of the British climbers who attempted the few remaining unclimbed mountains in the Alps in the period known as the silver age of alpinism As an alpinist Dent was very different from Mummery He lacked the other s fiery touch nor did he yield to the call of the mountains with Mummery s zest Dent s expeditions had an almost austerely classic perfection While Mummery s alpine career hardly met with any ill will from the mountains until the very end Dent had to wage a long and protracted war against his greatest conquest the Dru 4 Dent s first ascents in the Alps include the Lenzspitze 4 294 m in the Pennine Alps in August 1870 with Alexander Burgener and a porter Franz Burgener of whom Dent wrote his conversational powers were limited by an odd practice of carrying heavy parcels in his mouth 5 and the Portjengrat Pizzo d Andollo 3 654 m above the valley of Saas Fee in 1871 On 5 September 1872 the combined parties of Dent and guide Alexander Burgener with George Augustus Passingham and his guides Ferdinand Imseng and Franz Andermatten made the first ascent of the south east ridge of the Zinalrothorn 4 221 m this is the current voie normale on the mountain 6 nbsp The Aiguille du DruHe then turned his attention to the Aiguille du Dru 3 754 m a steep granite peak in the Mont Blanc massif that had been ignored by the early generation of alpinists whose ambitions had been focused more on the higher mountains After eighteen failed attempts with a number of different guides and companions during which he used ladders to overcome difficulties 7 Dent at last made the first ascent of the Grande Aiguille du Dru the higher of the mountain s two summits on 12 September 1878 with James Walker Hartley and the guides Alexander Burgener and Kaspar Maurer 8 He wrote of the Dru Those who follow us and I think there will be many will perhaps be glad of a few hints about this peak Taken together it affords the most continuously interesting rock climb with which I am acquainted There is no wearisome tramp over moraine no great extent of snow fields to traverse Sleeping out as we did it would be possible to ascend and return to Chamonix in about 16 to 18 hrs But the mountain is never safe when snow is on the rocks and at such times stones fall freely down the couloir leading up from the head of the glacier The best time for the expedition would be in ordinary seasons in the month of August The rocks are sound and are peculiarly unlike those of other mountains From the moment the glacier is left hard climbing begins and the hands as well as the feet are continuously employed The difficulties are therefore enormously increased if the rocks be glazed or cold and in bad weather the crags of the Dru would be as pretty a place for an accident as can well be imagined 9 Together with British alpinists such as Mummery A W Moore and D W Freshfield Dent was involved in the pioneering of climbing in the Caucasus where he made the first ascent of Gestola 4 860 m with W F Donkin in 1886 Writing in the Alpine Journal a year later Dent strongly encouraged the members of the Alpine Club of which he was President from 1886 to 1889 1 to travel to the region To those that have the health strength experience and energy I can but say THERE in that strange country those giant peaks wait for you silent majestic unvisited Would you revive in all their freshness the pleasures which the founders of our British Alpine Club discovered thirty years ago If the old feeling still is as strong as I think as I know it to be go there If you love mountains for their own sakes if you like to stand face to face with Nature where she mixes sublimity of grandeur and delicacy of beauty in perfect harmony if these sights fill and satisfy you of themselves go there If you prefer the grandeur with some of the rough edges knocked off and carried away in tourists pockets if you choose rather to play at travelling and roughing it you will stay at home in the Alps You will have missed much and your mountains education will have been imperfect If you think your temper is perfectly equable go there you will be undeceived and your family circle may benefit therefrom If you wish to be far from the madding crowd far from the noise bustle and vulgarity of the buzzing clustering swarms of tourists go there Nature will as it were take you gently by the hand and seem to say I am glad to welcome you come and you shall look upon sights that I don t choose to show to everybody Yet more I will make a present of them to you and in after times you shall call up in memory recollections of me as I can be when in the mood and you shall hug these memories with delight and even dream on them with enthusiasm If you wish for this go there To the end of your days you will remember it with pleasure Go there 10 Dent may have been the first person to have written in his book Above the Snow Line 1885 that an ascent of Mount Everest was possible 11 According to Geoffrey Winthrop Young He has often been quoted as saying that the Alps were exhausted as far back as the 1880s and he once wrote me a friendly warning not to attempt new Alpine ways since there is really nothing left worth risking much for 12 He also took part in the establishment of the Alpine distress signal in 1894 5 In Who s Who 1912 Dent gave his recreations as mountaineering and travel or any form of hard exercise art collecting photography 1 Medical career EditDent was a well known Senior Surgeon at the St George s Hospital medical school London Consulting Surgeon at the Belgrave Hospital for Children Chief Surgeon to the Metropolitan Police from 1904 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons 1 The University of Cambridge awarded him the honorary degree of MCh 1 He wrote extensively and his publications include studies of post surgical insanity and heart surgery and an account of the wounded in the Transvaal War to which he had been posted as a correspondent for the British Medical Journal 13 He also had a special interest in dermatology 14 Death EditDent died at the age of 61 after a mysterious attack of blood poisoning and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery 5 There is a memorial tablet to him on the Britannia Hut above Saas Fee 15 Publications EditDent Clinton Thomas The Ascent of Gestola in On the Edge of Europe Mountaineering in the Caucasus ed Audrey Salkeld Mountaineers Books 1994 ISBN 0 89886 388 0 Dent Clinton Thomas Above The Snow Line Mountaineering Sketches Between 1870 And 1880 Kessinger Publishing 2007 ISBN 1 4304 9731 9 Dent Clinton Thomas Mountaineering London Longmans Green 1892 16 2nd edition pp xx 439 with 2 pages of advertisements 13 plates and illustrations in text by H G Willink and others with contributions by W M Conway D W Freshfield C E Mathews C Pilkington F Pollock Republished by Kessinger Publishing 2007 ISBN 1 4304 9727 0 Dent Clinton Thomas and Christian Albert Theodor Billroth Clinical Surgery Extracts from the reports of surgical practice between the years 1860 1876 translated and edited with annotations by C T Dent and C A T Billroth New Sydenham Society vol 94References Edit a b c d e DENT Clinton Thomas permanent dead link in Who Was Who 1897 2006 online at Credo Reference accessed 7 January 2008 Dent Clinton Thomas Who s Who Vol 59 1907 p 472 Dent Clinton Thomas DNT868CT A Cambridge Alumni Database University of Cambridge Engel p 144 a b c Dumler and Burkhardt p 63 Dumler and Burkhardt p 136 Dent wrote We used our ladders repeatedly and frequently but only to shorten our way up while exploring the mountain When we actually climbed it we used one ladder in one place Clinton Thomas Dent The History of an Ascent of the Aiguille du Dru Alpine Journal Vol IX reprinted as The First Ascent of the Dru in Peaks Passes and Glaciers ed Walt Unsworth London Allen Lane 1981 p 62 Engel p 137 The First Ascent of the Dru p 61 The Alpine Journal 13 May 1887 From Sight to Summit G W Young Mountain Prophets Alpine Journal Vol LIV reprinted in Peaks Passes and Glaciers ed Walt Unsworth London Allen Lane 1981 p 137 J G Jones and J S M Zorab July 2003 Hawks doves and vivas plus ca change PDF Royal College of Anaesthetists Bulletin 20 980 983 Archived from the original PDF on 9 October 2007 1 Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Engel p 289 Review of Travels amongst the Great Andes of the Equator by Edward Whymper and Mountaineering by C T Dent The Quarterly Review 175 348 371 October 1892 Bibliography EditDumler Helmut and Burkhardt Willi P 1994 The High Mountains of the Alps London Diadem ISBN 0906371430 Engel Claire 1971 Mountaineering in the Alps London George Allen and UnwinExternal links EditWorks by Clinton Thomas Dent at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Clinton Thomas Dent at Internet Archive LIVES LOST IN THE CAUCASUS The New York Times 21 October 1888 Retrieved 7 August 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Clinton Thomas Dent amp oldid 1176593929, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.