Pat Kelly (climber)
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Pat |
| Died | 26/4/1922 |
Martha Emily "Pat" Kelly (née Bowler) (Mar Qtr 1873 – 26 April 1922) was an early female climber, and a founder of the Pinnacle Club.
Early life
Kelly was the eldest child within a large family. She took up climbing in 1914, and is reported to have been "a graceful and bold balance climber".[1]
By 1917 she was married to the climber, Harry Mills Kelly (1884-1980). They lived and shared an office together at 29 Fountain Street in Levenshulme, Manchester where he worked as an insurance clerk.[1]
Climbing
One of her best known achievements was to solo a rock climb known as Jones' route up Scafell pinnacle from Deep Ghyll in the Lake District. Those who watched her expressed their consternation at seeing a lone person ascending its rocky arete.[1]
Kelly actively encouraged many women to climb. By 1920, her and her husband's office was being used as a base for her work, which culminated in a letter jointly written by
Death
A year after forming the Pinnacle Club, Pat Kelly died as a result of injuries she sustained during a mysterious climbing accident on Tryfan on 17 April at the end of the 1922 Easter meet of the Pinnacle Club in North Wales. Right at the end of the day, she was found lying on her own, severely injured, at the base of apparently easy-to-climb rocks, albeit with one climbing boot missing. She was taken to Caernarvonshire and Anglesey Infirmary in Bangor, but died some days later on 26 April 1922 from fractures to the base of her skull.[1]
Further reading
- Shirley Angell, Pinnacle Club: a History of Women Climbing (1988)
References
- ^ a b c d e "Kelly, (Martha) Emily [Pat]". www.oxforddnb.com. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- ^ "The Pinnacle Club marks centenary by launching website with fascinating digital history". thebmc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2022.