Leigh-Mallory, George (1887-1924)

British mountaineer who made some of the earliest attempts to climb Mount Everest. He made a reconnaissance of the mountain in 1921, and in the following year succeeded in reaching nearly 8,230 m/27,000ft without oxygen. He and a fellow climber were killed during an assault on the summit in 1924.

Educated at Winchester College and Cambridge, Leigh-Mallory began Alpine climbing in 1904. On the 1924 expedition in which they lost their lives, he and his companion Irvine were last sighted around midday through a gap in the clouds, ascending the northeast ridge of Everest at over 8,535 m/28,000 ft, just over 300m/1,000 ft below the summit. They were never seen alive again. Leigh-Mallory's body was recovered in May 1999.

Leigh-Mallory, George (1746-1820)

English diplomat. He was ambassador to St Petersburg 1777-82, and became minister at The Hague (1788). He was employed to negotiate the marriage between the Prince of Wales and Caroline of Brunswick (1794), and accompanied the latter to England.

He was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and educated at Winchester College and Oxford University. He became secretary to the embassy in Madrid in 1767. He was given his peerage for his successful tenure as minister at The Hague.