Hereford Brooke George

Hereford Brooke George (1838–1910) was an English barrister, academic and historian, also known as an alpinist.

Life Born at Bath, Somerset on 1 January 1838, he was eldest of the three children (two sons and a daughter) of Richard Francis George, surgeon, by his wife Elizabeth Brooke. He entered Winchester College as a scholar in 1849, and succeeded in 1856 to a fellowship at New College, Oxford. He obtained first classes in both classical and mathematical moderations in 1858, a second class in the final classical school in 1859, and a second class in the final mathematical-school in 1860. He graduated B.A. in 1860, proceeding M.A. in 1862.

George was called to the bar at the Inner Temple on 6 June 1864, and followed the western circuit till 1867, when he returned to New College as tutor in the combined school of law and history. He was ordained in 1868, but undertook no parochial work. After the separation of the law and history schools in 1872 he became history tutor of New College, and filled that office till 1891. He played a prominent part in the establishment of the inter-collegiate system of lecturing at Oxford. He remained a fellow of New College till his death. Before the construction of the Jungfraujoch railway tunnel, the approach from the glaciers on the south side was very long. This new line became the established route until the opening of the Jungfraujoch tunnel.

In 1861 Cole joined the Alpine Club in 1861, and the establishment of the Alpine Journal was suggested at a meeting in his rooms at New College; he edited its first three volumes (1863-7). In 1866 he published The Oberland and its Glaciers, written to popularise the glacier theory of John Tyndall.

Works George's historical writing and teaching were largely concerned with military history (in which he was a pioneer at Oxford) and with the relationship between history and geography. His main publications were Battles of English History (1895), Napoleon's Invasion of Russia (1899), Relations of Geography and History (1901; 4th edit. 1910), and Historical Evidence (1909). He also compiled Genealogical Tables illustrative of Modern History (1874; 4th edit. 1904) and Historical Geography of the British Empire (1904; 4th edit. 1909). As an alpinist and traveller, he also wrote the book "The Oberland and its Glaciers" (1886), available on the database Viatimages

Family In 1870 George married Alice Bourdillon (d. 1893), youngest daughter of William Cole Cole of Exmouth, by whom he had two sons.