Ginny Fiennes

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Godalming, Surrey
, England
Died20 February 2004(2004-02-20) (aged 56)
Occupation(s)Explorer, author, farmer
Spouse
​
​
(1970⁠–⁠2004)​
Awards Polar Medal

Virginia Frances, Lady Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (

explorer.[1] She was the first woman to be awarded the Polar Medal,[2] and the first woman to be voted in to join the Antarctic Club in recognition of her research work for the British Antarctic Survey and University of Sheffield into very low frequency radio propagation. Her husband was adventurer Ranulph Fiennes.[3][4]

Early life

She was born Virginia Frances Pepper in

Territorials.[6]

Career

In 1968, she organised the first ascent of the longest river in the world, the

Dhofar.[7]

In 1972, she devised a plan to

North West Passage.[8]

In 2020 the Government of the British Antarctic Territory honoured the contribution she made to "furthering the understanding, protection and management of Antarctica" by naming Mount Fiennes.[9]

Author

In 1984 she released the non-fiction book Bothie the Polar Dog.[10] Co-authored with her husband, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, it describes the adventures of her Jack Russell Terrier named Bothie who was the "only dog ever to set paw on both the South and North poles".[11]

Family life

In the 1980s, she moved to

Welsh Mountain sheep
, becoming a highly proficient hill farmer on one of the highest working farms in the South West.

In November 2003, she was found to be suffering from stomach cancer, diagnosed on the day after her husband returned from running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. She died on 20 February 2004, aged 56.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Virginia Fiennes". The Times. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Page 11713 | Supplement 50650, 8 September 1986 | London Gazette | The Gazette". thegazette.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Lady Virginia Fiennes, wife of explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and first woman to receive the Polar Medal, ..." The Herald. 25 February 2004. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  4. S2CID 233316053. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  5. ISBN 0-7136-1140-5
  6. ^ a b Shepard, Oliver (24 February 2004). "Virginia Fiennes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  7. ISBN 1-870520-09-2
  8. ^ "BIOGRAPHIES". Transglobe Expedition. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Polar scientists and staff awarded place names in Antarctica". British Antarctic Survey. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  10. ISBN 0-340-36319-3
    .
  11. ^ Jensen, Gregory (6 January 1985). "Made 50,000-Mile Journey With Expedition : Bothie, the Only Dog to Visit Both Poles". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
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