Freda du Faur

Emmeline Freda Du Faur (16 September 188213 September 1935) was an Australian mountaineer, credited as the first woman to climb New Zealand's tallest mountain, Aoraki / Mount Cook. Du Faur was a leading amateur climber of her day. She was the first female high mountaineer known to be active in New Zealand, although she never lived there.

Early life Du Faur was born in Croydon, Sydney, on 16 September 1882. She was the daughter of Frederick Eccleston Du Faur (1832–1915), a public servant who, after retirement, became a stock, station, and land agent, and patron of the arts, and his second wife, Blanche Mary Elizabeth Woolley (1845–1906), daughter of Professor John Woolley and sister of Emmeline M. D. Woolley.

Du Faur was educated at Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School. She probably developed her passion for mountaineering when she lived with her family near the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. As a young woman, she explored the area and taught herself to rock climb. She did not finish nursing training due to her "sensitive and highly-strung nature".

Encountering Mount Cook (1906) Du Faur summered in New Zealand. In late 1906, she saw photographs of Mount Cook at the New Zealand International Exhibition in Christchurch. who became her life partner. After the training, Du Faur returned to Mount Cook in November 1910. New Zealand's highest peak at . Her guides included Peter and Alex (Alec) Graham, and together they ascended in a record six hours. The boulder, now called "Freda's Rock" is located approximately 200 metres into the Hooker Valley Track at Mount Cook National Park.

In June 1929, Cadogan died. Du Faur returned to Australia, where she lived in Dee Why, Sydney. At first, she lived with her brother's family and later in her own cottage. Her main interest was bushwalking in Dee Why and Collaroy.

She had been, in 1908, the principal beneficiary of her aunt Emmeline's will and her own will, benefiting Jean Lord, was contested by relatives who disputed her sanity. The Coroner, after examining Du Faur's notebook and several letters, denied the claim, finding her "the opposite of insane".

Du Faur was privately interred in the Church of England cemetery at Manly, Sydney.

In 2017 there was a theatre play about Du Faur written by Jan Bolwell and premiered at BATS Theatre in New Zealand. The play is called Taking the High Ground, and also features New Zealand climber Lydia Bradey.