Finch, George Ingle (1888–1970), chemist and mountaineer

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Finch, George Ingle (1888–1970), chemist and mountaineer

4 August 1888 - 22 November 1970

George Finch was a member of the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition. He was a proponent of the use of oxygen at high-altitude, a controversial topic at the time.

George Finch was born on 4 August 1888, near Orange, New South Wales, the eldest son of Charles Edward Finch, farmer and land court judge, and his wife, Laura. From an early age he was a keen explorer of the local countryside; it was a view of Orange, from a nearby hill, that inspired his desire to see the world from the tops of mountains. In 1902 the family moved to England as his father thought that a British education would benefit his sons. However, the discipline of public schools was incompatible with his desire to instil in them independence and self-reliance. It was agreed that Laura Finch would oversee the boys' private tuition in Europe, while their father returned to Australia to manage the family property.

In 1905 Finch entered the École de Médecine, Paris, but soon decided the subject was not to his liking. From 1907 he studied physical sciences at Zürich Polytechnic, graduating DTechChem in 1911. While in Switzerland he spent much time climbing in the Alps with his younger brother Maxwell, who was also studying in Zürich. George Finch was regarded locally as a very talented climber.

Finch moved to England in 1912; he worked briefly at the Royal Arsenal but the following year was appointed demonstrator in the newly formed fuel department at Imperial College.

During the First World War he served in France and in Salonika, where he developed an aerial mine to combat enemy spotter aircraft. He was mentioned in dispatches and appointed MBE. While on leave, on 16 June 1915 he married Alicia Gladys but the marriage was short and unhappy, ending in divorce about 1919.

After the war Finch returned to Imperial College. On 28 December 1921 he married Agnes Isobel Johnston. In the same year Finch was appointed a lecturer in electrochemistry. He became professor of applied physical chemistry in 1936. In 1952 he was appointed director of the National Chemical Laboratory in Poona, India. He retired in 1957, returning to England.

Throughout the 1920s Finch was an active mountaineer. Though his Australian unorthodoxy did not go down well with the climbing establishment he was selected for the 1922 British attempt on Everest. He was one of the earliest advocates of the use of oxygen. With George Mallory he reached 27,235 ft, at that time a record altitude, and the following year he was the first to climb the north face of the Dent d'Herens in the Swiss Alps. Yet, despite his achievements, he was excluded from the 1924 Everest team.

In 1929 he founded the Imperial College Mountaineering Club, but following a gastric illness and the death of three club members on the Jungfrau in 1931, he gave up climbing himself. Many years later, in 1959, he was elected president of the Alpine Club.

During his subsequent career Finch received many honours. He was elected FRS in 1938, and awarded the society's Hughes medal in 1944. He was president of the Physical Society in 1947–9 and Guthrie lecturer in 1950. He was appointed commander of the Belgian order of Leopold II in 1938, and made a chevalier of the French Légion d'honneur in 1952. A keen sailor from the time he had given up mountaineering, he moved in his last years to The Grange, East Hanney, Berkshire, where he died on 22 November 1970, survived by his wife.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography