Gertrude Emily Benham

Gertrude Emily Benham known as Truda Benham (29 July 1867– February 1938) was an English explorer and mountaineer, who climbed over 300 mountains.

She climbed mountains on almost every continent and was an intrepid hiker, walking from Valparaiso, Chile, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. She went on to hike across Kenya, and traverse Africa on foot. Benham drew as she travelled, and her drawings were later used in mapping the countries she explored. Benham always travelled alone or with indigenous or local guides, spending less than £250 (pounds sterling) a year.

Truda Peaks, one of the summits of Mount Rogers in Glacier National Park, in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, are named in her honour. Her climbing boots are on display in the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. Her father took her on alpine climbing holidays each year and she became an experienced mountaineer. She had in time to care for her parents, but she managed to climb 130 mountains before her father died in 1891 and her mother in 1903. She had an inheritance that allowed her to choose her occupation and she chose travelling and mountaineering.

Early travels

Benham travelled to Canada in 1904 and visited Banff, Alberta. New areas of Canada were more accessible because of the railway. She stayed on Lake Louise. She beat a rival party to the top that was led by Charles Ernest Fay. Fay was annoyed that Benham had climbed "his" mountain first and decided to climb a nearby peak instead. However Benham had already been there and the Truda Peak is named in her honour.

Back in Africa in 1913, she disembarked on the Niger delta and made her way to Kano, Nigeria. Her route took her through Cameroon, down the Ubangi, up the Congo to Stanleyville (now Kisangani), then through the Ituri Rainforest to Mbarara, Uganda. Diverting west through Rwanda, she ascended Mount Nyiragongo and reached the crater of an unnamed volcano that had erupted in December 1912. She climbed to the summit of Mount Mulanje in present day Malawi. She then travelled on the Nyasaland railway until she took a steamer on the River Shire to Chinde in Mozambique, arriving in October 1913.

In 1914, Benham visited India and ventured for the third time into the Himalayas. She trekked across the mountains, reaching Srinagar in Kashmir. Her collection consisted of hundreds of items, including jewellery, costumes, accessories, metalwork, lacquer ware, ceramics, toys and religious articles. Some of the objects from her collection are on display, including a pair of her boots which she wore whilst travelling in Leh in Ladakh, and her "Catalogue of Museum" notebook recording the details of the 447 objects she acquired on her travels. It is believed that other items may still be discovered.

Last journey and death Benham started her "last journey" in 1935.

In 2019, the New York Times ran her obituary in their Overlooked No More series, noting that she had been overlooked by the media.