Henry Lansdell

Background

Born in Tenterden, Kent, Lansdell was the son of a schoolmaster and home schooled before attending Street John"s College in Highbury, north London.

Education

He then studied at the London College of Divinity before his ordination as a deacon in 1868 and his assignment as a curate in Greenwich.

Career

He was also a noted explorer and author He established the Clergyman"s Magazine in 1875, which he edited until 1883. After spending holidays in Europe, Lansdell began long and often arduous journeys to little-known parts of Asia.

He distributed multi-lingual religious tracts and bibles provided by London missionary societies wherever he went, most notably in prisons and hospitals in Siberia and central Asia.

Such activities sometimes aroused the suspicions of the Russian authorities and on one occasion he was arrested while travelling on the Permanent Railway after it was thought he was distributing revolutionary pamphlets. Lansdell"s journey from Hotan to Yarkand in present-day Xinjiang "across deserts abominable" was probably the first by any Englishman.

He was the author of a number of books including Chinese Central Asia: A Ride to Little Tibet, which ran to five editions in English and was also translated into German, Danish, and Swedish. The two volumes recorded part of Lansdell"s 5,000-mile (8,000 km) journey through Europe and Africa to Asia.

He travelled from Lake Balkash through Kashgar to Little Tibet (now known as Baltistan) by horse and yak at heights of up to 18,000 feet (5,500 m), in the process crossing the entire mountain systems of Central Asia.

Lansdell"s objective was to deliver a letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Dalai Lama, which he hoped would grant him access to the then closed capital of Tibet at Lhasa. In the end he was unable to obtain the requisite permission and had to make do with purchasing items from a trader who had been to Tibet. He died on 4 October 1919 at home in Blackheath, London, and is buried in Street Mary's Church, Greenwich at his own request.

Achievements

• He subsequently became secretary to the Irish Church Missions (1869-1879) and founder and honorary secretary of the Homiletical Society (1874-1886).

Works

More photos

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  • Through Siberia (Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration) (Volume 1)

    (The Church of England clergyman Henry Lansdell (1841-1919...)

  • Through Siberia (Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration) (Volume 2)

    (The Church of England clergyman Henry Lansdell (1841-1919...)

  • Through Siberia 2 Volume Set (Cambridge Library Collection - European History)

    (The Church of England clergyman Henry Lansdell (1841-1919...)

  • The Tithe in Scripture: Being Chapters from "The Sacred Tenth" with a Revised Bibliography On Tithe-Paying and Systematic and Proportionate Giving

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The Tithe in Scripture: Being Chapters from "The Sacred Tenth" with a Revised Bibliography On Tithe-Paying and Systematic and Proportionate Giving - Scholar's Choice Edition

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The Sacred Tenth, Or, Studies In Tithe-giving, Ancient And Modern, Volume 2... - Scholar's Choice Edition

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Through Siberia, Volume I: Volume 1

    (This Elibron Classics edition is a facsimile reprint of a...)

  • Through Siberia: Volume 2

    (This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 18...)

  • The Sacred Tenth Or, Studies In Tithe-Giving, Ancient And Modern

    (Hardcover reprint of the original 1906 edition (Volume 1)...)

  • Chinese Central Asia; a Ride to Little Tibet: Volume 1

    (This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 18...)

  • Chinese Central Asia (v.1): a ride to Little Tibet

    (This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)

  • Chinese Central Asia (v.2): a ride to Little Tibet

    (This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)

  • The Sacred Tenth V2: Or Studies In Tithe-Giving, Ancient And Modern (1906)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • Chinese Central Asia; A Ride to Little Tibet Volume 2

    (This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)

  • Chinese Central Asia Volume 1

    (This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)

  • The Sacred Tenth, Or, Studies in Tithe-Giving, Ancient and Modern Volume 2

    (This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)

  • The Sacred Tenth, Or, Studies In Tithe-giving, Ancient And Modern, Volume 2... - Primary Source Edition

    ( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)

  • Chinese Central Asia: A Ride to Little Tibet, Volume 2

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Chinese Central Asia: A Ride to Little Tibet, Volume 1

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Chinese Central Asia; a ride to Little Tibet Volume 1

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Through Siberia (Russia observed)

    ( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)

  • Through Siberia - Primary Source Edition

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • The sacred tenth: or, Studies in tithe-giving, ancient and modern Volume 1

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • The tithe in scripture; being chapters from "The sacred tenth" with a revised bibliography on tithe-paying and systematic and proportionate giving

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • The Sacred Tenth: Or Studies in Tithe-Giving, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 2 of 2 (Classic Reprint)

    (Estimated income of people of Great Britain, 353. Statist...)

  • The Sacred Tenth: Or Studies in Tithe-Giving, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 1 of 2 (Classic Reprint)

    (Studies may be briefly indicated as follows. The opening ...)

  • Chinese Central Asia, Vol. 2: A Ride to Little Tibet (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Chinese Central Asia, Vol. 2: A Ride to Litt...)

  • The Sacred Tenth, Vol. 1 of 2: Or Studies in Tithe-Giving, Ancient and Modern (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Sacred Tenth, Vol. 1 of 2: Or Studies in...)

  • The Sacred Tenth, Vol. 2 of 2: Or Studies in Tithe-Giving Ancient and Modern (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Sacred Tenth, Vol. 2 of 2: Or Studies in...)

  • The Sacred Tenth, Studies in Tithe-giving, Ancient and Modern, in Two Volumes, Vol. II (2)

    (Volume 2 of two volume set. Includes portraits, maps, ill...)

  • The tithe in Scripture : being chapters from the Sacred tenth with a revised bibliography on tithe-paying and systematic and proportionate giving / by Henry Lansdell
  • The Sacred Tenth, Or, Studies in Tithe-Giving, Ancient and Modern Volume 2 by Henry Lansdell (2013-09-12)
  • Through Siberia, Volume I: Volume 1 by Henry Lansdell (2001-06-28)
  • The Tithe in Scripture: Being Chapters From the Sacred Tenth With A; Revised Bibliography on Tithe-Paying and Systematic and Proportionate Giving (Classic Reprint) by Henry Lansdell (2015-11-26)
  • The Sacred Tenth: Or, Studies In Tithe-Giving, Ancient And Modern
  • Through Siberia / by Henry Lansdell
  • The Sacred Tenth V2: Or Studies in Tithe-Giving, Ancient and Modern (1906) THE SACRED TENTH V2: OR STUDIES IN TITHE-GIVING, ANCIENT AND MODERN (1906) By Lansdell, Henry ( Author )Nov-01-2007 Paperback

Membership

Lansdell was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Geographical Society (elected 1876), and a life member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science on whose committee he served.

• Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society; Member of Royal Asiatic Society.

Interests

• Fruit culture, and literary composition.

Connections

Father:

Henry

Mother:

Julia Lansdell