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Philanthropist and wife of Lord Byron.

Capt. John B. L. Noel was a member of the 1922 and 1924 British Mount Everest Expeditions, serving as photographer and filmmaker.

John Noel was born on 26 February 1890 at Newton Abbot, Devon, the third and youngest son of Colonel the Hon. Edward Noel (1852–1917) and his wife, Ruth Lucas (d. 1926). He was baptised Baptist Lucius and added the name John by deed poll in 1908. His father, the younger son of the 2nd Earl of Gainsborough, was a prominent soldier and military historian. Noel was educated at Lausanne, Switzerland, but often missed classes to visit the mountains. His mother was an artist and encouraged him to study painting in Florence. His father's influence prevailed and he attended Sandhurst, though he passed into the regular army, not the Indian army, to his father's disappointment. In 1909 he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant, and applied to join the East Yorkshire regiment since it was stationed in northern India.

Noel's regiment spent summers in the hills of the Himalayas and he spent his leave plotting routes through the forests of Sikkim towards Tibet. After being promoted to Lieutenant in 1912, he took his leave in 1913 and travelled in disguise and without permission across an unguarded pass into Tibet with three Himalayan guides. Tibetan authorities forced Noel to turn back when he got within 40 miles of Mount Everest.

When war started in 1914, Noel was on leave in Britain and joined the King's own Yorkshire Light Infantry, as his own regiment was still in India. During the retreat from Mons he was taken prisoner by the Germans. He escaped and made his way through enemy lines, travelling at night by the stars. He rejoined his regiment at Ypres and was promoted to Captain in 1915, the year of his marriage to Sybil Graham (d. 1939), an actress whom he had met in Kashmir. In 1917 he became an instructor in the machine-gun corps and was temporary a Major from 1918 to 1920. From 1920 he served as revolver instructor at the small arms school at Hythe, Kent, and wrote several pamphlets on revolvers and automatic pistols, as well as publishing, jointly with his wife, a collection of cooking recipes for soldiers.

In 1919 Noel gave a lecture on his pre-war travels in Tibet at the Royal Geographical Society. Sir Francis Younghusband orchestrated the press coverage of Noel's paper to generate interest in a British expedition to climb Everest. Noel was invited to join the second Everest expedition in 1922 by its leader, and his cousin, General Charles Bruce as photographer and film-maker. He had been interested in cinematography since the age of fourteen, when he saw Herbert Ponting's Antarctic film sixteen times. The army would not grant him leave for the Everest expedition in 1922 so he retired and was granted the rank of Major.

Noel made a silent film called 'Climbing Mt. Everest' (1922) which portrays the manners and customs of Tibet as well as the ascent of the mountain. Noel's technical achievements—filming with a Newman Sinclair camera at 23,000 feet and developing film under harsh conditions in a tent at 16,000 feet—were overshadowed by the expedition's failure to reach the summit.

In 1924 Noel formed Explorer Films Ltd, with Younghusband as Chairman, and paid £8,000 for the film and photographic rights to Everest. He posted letters from Tibet with his own Everest stamp, and sent his film to Darjeeling for developing by Arthur Pereira, who in turn sent extracts to Pathé news. Noel also made innovative use of telephoto lenses and time-lapse film techniques. His silent film 'The Epic of Everest' (1924) contrasted the masculine climbers with the mystical Tibetans, and suggested that spiritual forces on Mount Everest might be responsible for the disappearance of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. Noel exhibited his film in London with dances by a group of monks from the Tibetan Buddhist monastery at Gyantse. Officials in Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan were offended by certain scenes in the film and by the performances of the monks, who had not been given permission to leave Tibet. The Dalai Lama saw pictures of the monks in newspapers and said he considered 'the whole affair as a direct affront to the religion of which he is the head' (Hansen, 737). The controversy over the 'dancing lamas' led to the cancellation of future Everest expeditions and a chill in Anglo-Tibetan relations, and Noel became persona non grata among British diplomats, geographers, and mountaineers for almost thirty years.

Noel's American lecture tour enjoyed great success, as did the American edition of his book Through Tibet to Everest (1927; repr., 1931, 1989), which was not as well promoted in Britain. His wife also published Magic Bird of Chomolungma (1931), about Tibetan folk-tales she had collected in Tibet in 1924. British diplomats curtly rebuffed Noel's attempts to organize Himalayan expeditions in the 1930s. He filled out an application to become a naturalized American citizen, but the paperwork was misplaced.

Noel was Roman Catholic, and one of his uncles was private secretary to several popes. Pope Pius XI, who was also a climber, sent his blessings to Noel's Everest endeavours and invited him to the canonization of St Bernadette at St Peter's in Rome in 1933. Noel surreptitiously shot the only photographs of the ceremony, with a camera disguised as a prayer book. He occasionally lectured on St Bernadette's story, and his photographs of the canonization were later given to the Society of Our Lady of Lourdes.

After his first wife died in 1939, Noel married Mary Sullivan (d. 1984) on 17 November 1941. During 1941–3 he joined the intelligence corps and was restored to the rank of Captain. He worked out the best supply-route from India to Burma, and it was briefly known as the Noel Road before being renamed the Stilwell Road. In 1944 he moved to Smarden, Kent, and restored several old homes.

After the first ascent of Everest in 1953, Noel began to give mountaineering lectures again with his films and hand-coloured photographs. Younger climbers and film-makers often visited him at Romney Marsh, Kent, to hear his eyewitness account of the disappearance of Mallory and Irvine. Footage from his Everest films appeared in many subsequent mountaineering films and television programmes. Noel's version of events also strongly influenced histories of the Everest expeditions written during this period.

Noel was known for his showmanship, mischievous humour, and an imperious demeanour. He died of pneumonia in 1989.

Major Edward Norton was a member of the 1922 and 1924 British Mount Everest Expeditions, serving as Acting Leader in 1924 after General Charles Bruce was taken ill.

Edward Norton was born on 21 February 1884 in Argentina, the second son of Edward Norton, a director of the Royal Mail and Union Castle shipping lines, and his wife, Edith Sarah. He was educated at Charterhouse School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and was commissioned in 1902. In 1907 he was posted to Meerut, India, first with the Royal Field Artillery, then from 1910 with the Royal Horse Artillery. During this period he was aide-de-camp to the viceroy.

Norton served in France during the First World War. He was mentioned in dispatches three times, was appointed to the DSO, and was awarded the Military Cross. After the war he commanded D Battery in India and later served on the staff at Chanak.

On 18 December 1925 he married (Isabel) Joyce. They had three sons.

He attended the Staff College and later the Imperial Defence College, and returned to India as senior instructor at the Staff College at Quetta (1929–32). He then became commander, Royal Artillery, to the 1st division at Aldershot, and subsequently brigadier-general staff to the Aldershot command. In 1937 he was appointed aide-de-camp to King George VI, in 1938 he commanded the Madras district, and in 1939 he was appointed CB.

1940-41 - acting governor and commander-in-chief in Hong Kong. While there he was severely injured in a riding accident, from which he never fully recovered. It forced his retirement in 1942. He was granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant-General. After returning to England he became commander of the north Hampshire sector of the Home Guard (1942–4); when the Home Guard was disbanded he went on to serve as Hampshire's county Army Cadet Force commandant (1944–8). In 1947 he was appointed colonel commandant of the Royal Horse Artillery.

Norton was an alpine climber and in 1922 was selected for the second British Mount Everest expedition. With George Mallory and Howard Somervell he reached the then record height of 26,985 ft. They were the first to pass the critical level of 8,000 metres, and this without supplementary oxygen.

On the 1924 Everest expedition he took charge when the leader, Charles Bruce, was taken ill. He led the first serious summit attempt. Again he climbed without oxygen, an aid for which he had little respect. At 28,000 ft his companion, Somervell, was stopped by severe throat trouble and Norton continued alone to a height of 28,126 ft. He reached the great couloir on the north face, which later became popularly known as Norton's couloir. This, too, was an altitude record, and it was fifty-four years before anyone climbed higher without oxygen.

Another summit bid was undertaken a few days later by Mallory and Irvine, from which neither man returned. Norton handled this tragedy and the publicity with impeccable dignity. He also wrote the greater part of the official expedition book, The Fight for Everest, 1924.

He was a fine horseman, a keen shot, and an enthusiastic fisherman. He was also interested in natural history, and on his trips to Everest made collections of birds and flowers for the British Museum. He was a skilled draughtsman and watercolourist, with a preference for painting landscapes, several of which have been reproduced in the Everest literature. He also had a talent for quick and often witty sketches of his companions. A man of many interests, he was widely read, well informed, and a charming companion. Integrity was the essence of his character. He was a born leader and, in the army, popular with all ranks; he understood and got on well with Indians and with the Gurkhas, Sherpas, and Bhotias on Everest.

Norton died at his home, Morestead Grove, Morestead, Winchester, on 3 November 1954, survived by his wife, Joyce.

Prime Minister of Belgium, 1841-1845.

George Nuttall was born in San Francisco, California, and was the second son of Robert Kennedy Nuttall MD, from Tittour, co. Wicklow, and his wife, Magdalena. In 1865 the family returned to Europe, and the children were educated in England, France, Germany, and Switzerland and as a result Nuttall could speak several languages. He returned to America in 1878 and entered the University of California, where he proceeded MD in 1884. Between 1886 and 1891 he studied botany and zoology in Germany. He spent further time studying in America and Germany before giving a course of lectures on bacteriology in Cambridge in 1899.

In 1901 was appointed University Lecturer in bacteriology and preventive medicine and in the same year founded the Journal of Hygiene which he edited up to the time of his death. In 1908 he founded Parasitology, which he edited until 1933.

In 1906 he was elected the first Quick Professor of Biology at Cambridge (1906 - 1931). In 1907 he became a professorial Fellow at Magdalene in succession to Alfred Newton.

He was the founder of the Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology (later known as the Molteno Institute of Biology and Parasitology), which was formally opened in 1921.

Nuttall resigned the Quick Professorship in 1931 and became Emeritus Professor of Biology.

In 1895 he had married Paula and they had two sons and a daughter. His hobby was heraldry. He died suddenly on 16 December 1937.

Arms in Hall glass, W2

Further Reading: College Magazine, Vol. X, No. 9, December 1938 'George Henry Falkiner Nuttall' by A. S. Ramsey and David Keilin

Arms in Hall glass, W2.

Climbing sherpa on 1921 Mount Everest Expedition with George Mallory, mentioned by name.

Portraitist who Studied art at Canford School under Robin Noscoe. Attended Bournemouth and Poole College of Art. Held an Exhibition in English at Christ’s College, Cambridge.
Studied Architecture and History of Art. Between 1979 and 1980 he undertook a series of pencil portraits of Honorary Fellows for Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Noel Odell was a member of the 1924 British Mount Everest Expedition and last person to see George Mallory and Andrew Irvine alive.

In 1924 Odell was an oxygen officer on the Everest expedition. He spent two weeks living above 23,000 ft and twice climbed to 26,800 ft and higher, without supplemental oxygen. In 1936 Noel Odell with Bill Tilman climbed Nanda Devi, at the time the highest mountain climbed.

On 8 June 1924 George Mallory and Andrew Irvine attempted to summit Mount Everest via the Northeast Ridge route. Odell reported seeing them at 12:50 p.m. ascending one of the major "steps" on the North-East ridge, "the last step but one from the base of the final pyramid" and "going strongly for the top." The is no evidence to prove reached the summit, or that they ascended above the major second step. They never returned and died on the mountain.

In his first two accounts, written between June and November 1924, Odell was certain he had seen Mallory and Irvine climbing the second step, but in the expedition account published in 1925, and after mounting skepticism from members of the climbing community as to whether it was the second step or the lower first step, Odell conceded it might have been the first step. After he had been rejected as too old for the next Everest expedition, he recanted his change of mind and returned to the belief that he had seen the two climbers on the second step. Had they done climbed this, there would have been a fair chance that one of them, at least, might have reached the summit.

Cottie Saunders was a friend of George Mallory's with whom she climbed in Wales. She married Owen O'Malley in 1913 and afterward called herself Mary Ann O'Malley. She was an author who wrote under the name Ann Bridge.

Guy Walter Otter was born on 1 November 1905 at Slinfold, Horsham, Sussex. He matriculated on 22 October 1924 having been admitted to Magdalene College. He studied Geology, Botany and Zoology and Comparative Anatomy for Part I of the Natural Sciences Tripos, as the honours BA is known, and was awarded a third class pass in the examinations in Easter term 1927. He graduated BA on 21 June 1927 and MA on 18 November 1932. He was admitted as a Research Student in Michaelmas term 1934 and approved for the MSc degree on 25 February 1939 for a thesis entitled 'A study of the morphology of four species of Cecidomyid larvae - Diptera'. He graduated MSc on 25 February 1939 (source: UA Graduati 12, Exam.L.41).

In 1936 he married Peggy Leslie Dawson Waugh (1908-2004) in Westminster, London. Their daughter was Caroline Margaret Otter (1941-1993)

William Owen RA (1769-1825) was an English portrait painter known for his portraits of society figures such as Pitt the Younger and George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV).

Archivist and historian.

Daughter of the 2nd Viscount Grandison, married Roger Palmer, 1659, later Earl of Castlemaine. Barbara Palmer was one of the loveliest ladies of the Court (so Pepys thought), but she was also one of the most promiscuous. She was mistress to the King, c 1659 to 1670, in which year she had herself created Duchess of Cleveland; she bore the King five children.

Master of Magdalene College, 1595-1604

John Palmer was born in Kent. He matriculated at St John's College in 1567. BA in 1572 and became a Fellow in 1573. MA in 1575.
In 1580 he was incorporated at Oxford University. He was Proctor of his college from 1587 to 1588. He was awarded DD in 1595.

1595-1604 Master of Magdalene College
1597-1607 Dean of Peterborough from 1597 to 1607
1605-1607 Prebendary of Lichfield

Palmer was imprisoned for debt, and died in prison in June 1607

Palmer made a clandestine marriage to Katherine Knevit, daughter of William Knevit of Little Vastern Park, Wiltshire on 29 March 1593

Palmer resigned the Mastership in 1604. The true reason for his resignation isn't clear but his protracted absences from Magdalene were an issue. Chiefly famous as a debtor and a place-seeker but as a Master, he appears to have been attentive when he was in residence, and the register records his careful oversight of College business. After he left he was voted a a payment as a 'gratuitie', implying that his departure wasn't acrimonious.