Sedgwick Henry John

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Biografie:
Henry John Sedgwick (1873-1957)
Harry Sedgwick was born on January 5, 1873, and died on October 14, 1957, in his eighty-fifth year. He was educated at Whitgift School and in 1895 joined the Union Bank of London, which, in 1902, became the Union of London & Smith's Bank, which bank amalgamated in 1918 with the National Provincial Bank. He became Registrar of the National Provincial Bank and subsequently Manager of the Stock Department, and retired in 1938.
Having known Sedgwick for over thirty years and paid many visits with him to Switzerland and climbed with him in pre-war days with his faithful and devoted guide, Joseph Krönig, I should like to record how impressed I have always been with his outstanding love of Switzerland, the Swiss people and the Swiss mountains. Whenever he got over into that country he was a new man and his enthusiasm was boundless. When he was seventy-three years of age, he said to me : ' I want to do another climb: what shall it be?' We decided on the Wellenkuppe, and with the guide Theodor Zürniwen we got to the top with its 100-metre snow cap a good viewpoint for the Obergabelhorn traverse and others of his many conquests. That was before the days of the Rothorn hut !
It used to amuse Sedgwick when people asked him if he had ever climbed the Matterhorn. His reply would be, ' Yes, six times two of which were traverses, one by the Zmutt and one by the Italian ridge. Moreover, two of my daughters, Molly and Kitty, and my late son Phil have also climbed it. Also I have climbed every peak in the ring round Zermatt as seen from Gornergrat, except the Bietschhorn !! His daughter Kitty has a record that when her father and she, with Joseph Krönig, climbed the Matterhorn on August 12, 1933, they made the ascent from Belvedere in four-and-a-half hours, arriving on the top at about 6.15 a.m., and down to the Belvedere again in three-and-three quarter hours, lunched at Schwarzsee at 12.30 p.m., and then down to Zermatt.
Sedgwick had done a good deal of climbing in other parts of Switzerland, but Zermatt was a first favourite with him. His wife and members of his family frequently accompanied him on his visits. He was a popular and well-known character in Switzerland, and I understand he had visited that country no less than fifty-one times -many times in winter, but practically always in summer, excepting of course during the war period. His faithful guide, Joseph, died a few months before our first post-war visit, which was a great disappointment to him. Sedgwick's generous nature was well known and he was very good to Joseph Krönig's widow, invariably going to see her when in Zermatt and always keeping in touch with the two sons, David and Theodor. It was a joy to him that he was able to be present in Zermatt at the Alpine Club Centenary Celebrations in August, to which he had been looking forward very much indeed, and to meet and be welcomed by many old friends again; it is sad, however, that he was not spared to participate in the English part of the celebrations.
Sedgwick had a good sense of humour, and it was always entertaining to hear him recording episodes, humorous and otherwise, of his numerous expeditions, his memory for which never deserted him. There will be many who will remember, too, how he regaled them in the huts or over ' cafe cognac ' with his singing of popular songs with an artistic. touch which was just Sedgwick !
An ardent devotee of the Alpine Club, of which he had been a member for thirty-five years, whenever a cause was needing support he was never lacking. He was also a 'gold badge ' Veteran of the Swiss Alpine Club and a member of the Ski Club of Great Britain.
Sedgwick had a great affection for the little English church at Zermatt. Amongst other things he arranged, at his own expense, for a rail to be fixed at the sloping path between the Mont Cervin Hotel Tea Gardens and the steps up to the church. This path became slippery after rain and in snowy weather and difficult for elderly people.
The loss of his wife in 1947 was a severe blow to him. His four married daughters, however, have been a great comfort to him in his old age. In later years, deafness, in spite of hearing-aids, was a big handicap to him, but his spirit remained good, and at eighty-four it was stronger than his frame and he was tempted to overdo it. His illness, mercifully, was not a long one. Harry Sedgwick's death is the passing of a kind-hearted, generous old gentleman whose familiar figure will be much missed by many friends at home and in Switzerland.
It was a special 'vish of his that his ashes be scattered on the Matterhorn and arrangements for this to be done were made.
E. V. Townshend
Dr. G. N. CarrellL writes:
The years that separated us prevented my sharing a summit with Harry Sedgwick, although for a quarter of a century we did everything with mountains but climb them together; and when we last strolled through the foothills, he in his eighth decade set a pace that I was not anxious to quicken. He was a climber of the older school, who tackled mountains as he tackled his gardening, with energy, competence, infectious zest and well-found professional aid; and the results attained testified to the means. It is a privilege to have enjoyed his friendship and shared his enthusiasms.
Quelle: Alpine Journal Vol. 63. Nr. 296, 1958, Seite 114-116


Geboren am:
05.01.1873
Gestorben am:
14.10.1957