Walter Weston

Background

Walter Weston was born on December 25, 1860 in Derby, United Kingdom. He was the sixth son of John Weston, an elastic manufacturer, and his wife, Emma Britland.

Education

Walter Weston was educated at Derby School between 1876 and 1880, where he held the school record for running the mile distance (viz., four minutes, 47 seconds). He then went up to Clare College, Cambridge, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1883 and Master of Arts in 1887. He studied for the Church of England's priesthood at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He played six times for Derby County F.C. in their inaugural season, 1884-1885.

Career

Ordained a deacon in 1885, priest in 1886, Walter Weston was appointed curate of St John's, Reading, Berkshire, in 1885. He was already a mountaineer, and in 1886 and 1887 spent periods climbing in the Alps.

Walter Weston went to Japan as a missionary of the Church of England's Church Missionary Society in 1888, working first at Kumamoto, then serving as chaplain in Kobe from 1889 to 1895. Alternating between postings to parishes in England, Walter Weston spent a total of fifteen years in various ministries of the Anglican Church in Japan between 1888 and 1915 including service as a SPG sponsored missionary at St. Andrew's Cathedral and Christ Church, Yokohama.

Walter Weston began mountain climbing while expressing a strong interest in Japanese landscapes, traditions, customs and culture. He published Mountaineering and Exploration in the Japanese Alps (1896). As a writer and lecturer he continued to introduce Japan to an overseas audience. He gave universal currency to the term Japanese Alps, though it was first used before he came to Japan. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Japanese Alpine Club in 1906, and became its first honorary member.

After returning to England during the First World War, Walter Weston settled in London and became an active member of the Alpine Club of Great Britain, the Japan Society of London (serving on its council), and the Royal Geographical Society, which in 1917 awarded him its Back Award and a Fellowship for his work in Japan. He was a lecturer for Cambridge University and the Gilchrist Educational Trust and established himself as a writer.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Japan

    (Black's popular series of color books)

  • Walter Weston: furukiehagakiyori

    (Japanese Edition)

  • Mountaineering and Exploration in the Japanese Alps
  • The playground of the Far East
  • A Wayfarer in Unfamiliar Japan
  • Walter Weston unpublished Collected Works 2001

Membership

• Japanese Alpine Club , Japan

  1906

• Alpine Club of Great Britain , United Kingdom

• Japan Society of London , United Kingdom

• 

  Royal Geographical Society , United Kingdom

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  mountain climbing

Connections

On 3 April 1902, prior to the start of Weston's second extended stay in Japan, Walter Weston married Frances Emily, second daughter of Sir Francis Fox, a prominent civil engineer. Frances accompanied Weston on many of his expeditions in the Japanese Alps.

Father:

John Weston

Mother:

Emma Britland

Spouse:

Frances Emily

father-in-law:

Sir Francis Fox

References

• Nihon arupusu saiho
• Nihon arupusu
• Five Strides on the Banked Track: The Life and Times of the Roller Derby