Benham, Gertrude (fl. 1909)

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Benham, Gertrude (fl. 1909)

British mountain climber and the first woman to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

Little is known about the publicity-shy Gertrude Benham, who spent more than 30 years walking the world. Her journey included 17 visits to Switzerland, a walk across South America from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires in 1908, and a walk across Africa from west to east in 1913. She traveled to every part of the British Empire, except Tristan da Cunha and some small islands, and climbed more than 300 peaks of 10,000 feet or over. In 1909, Benham was the first woman to conquer the 19,700-foot Kilimanjaro. During her estimated seven trips around the world, she is said to have carried a Bible, copies of Lorna Doone and Kipling's Kim, a pocket Shakespeare, and her knitting.