John Auldjo

Who is John Auldjo?

John Richardson Auldjo, F.R.S., F.R.G.S., was the first Briton to climb Mont Blanc. He was a traveller, geologist, writer and artist. He was British Consul at Geneva. He was a close friend of Edward Bulwer-Lytton and a member of Sir William Gell's inner circle at Naples.

In 1805, John Auldjo was born into a prominent family of merchants and politicians at Montreal. He was the eldest of the two sons of Alexander Auldjo and his wife Eweretta Jane Richardson, sister of John Richardson. His mother's first cousins included John Forsyth and Edward Ellice. His brother, Thomas Richardson Auldjo, married Anna, one of the daughters of William McGillivray and a niece of both John MacDonald of Garth and General Sir Archibald Campbell. John Auldjo was a godson of Simon McGillivray, who looked after him in London after he was orphaned at the age of sixteen.

In 1822, Auldjo entered Trinity College, Cambridge. Before he embarked on his Grand Tour, he secured a place at Lincoln's Inn, London. In 1827, during the early stages of his tour, he decided that he must climb to the top of the highest peak in Europe. So, with the help of only six guides, he did just that.