Godfrey Vigne

Godfrey Thomas Vigne (1 September 1801 – 12 July 1863) was an English amateur cricketer and traveller.

Early life Vigne was born on 1 September 1801 at Walthamstow, then in Essex, the eldest son of Thomas Vigne. He entered Harrow School in 1817, became a barrister in 1824, and was a member of Lincoln's Inn.

Cricketing career He was mainly associated with Hampshire and he made 11 known appearances in important matches from 1819 to 1845.

Travels

In 1831 Vigne left England for Persia, and then travelled to India. He spent the next seven years travelling in north west India and Central Asia. In the light of his ease in obtaining a permit to travel to Kashmir, despite his unofficial status, the timing and his repeated extensive journeys north of Kashmir, reaching as far as Skardu and the Saltoro Pass, it has been suggested that he may have been a spy involved in the Great Game. He was also the first to describe Nanga Parbat.

After 1852 Vigne travelled in Mexico, Nicaragua, the West Indies and the United States. He published several books describing his travels. During his 1892 expedition to the Karakoram, Conway named several previously unvisited glaciers which he encountered, one of those was the Vigne Glacier.

Works Outline of a Route Through the Panj-áb, Kábul, Kashmír, and into Little Tibet, in the Years 1834-8. Publisher: Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 9, 1 January 1839 A personal narrative of a visit to Ghuzni, Kabul, and Afghanistan, and of a residence at the court of Dost Mohamed with notices of Runjit Sing, Khiva, and the Russian expedition. With illus. from drawings made by the author on the spot. Publisher: Whitacker & Co., London, 1840 Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo, the countries adjoining the mountain-course of the Indus, and the Himalaya, north of the Panjab. Volume I. Publisher: Henry Colburn London, 1842 Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo, the countries adjoining the mountain-course of the Indus, and the Himalaya, north of the Panjab. Volume II. Publisher: Henry Colburn London, 1842 Observation on the Vegetation and Products of Afghanistan, Kaschmir and Tibet by J. Forbes Royal M.D. F.R.S.

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