Frederick Williamson

Frederick Williamson CIE
Frederick Williamson (closest to right)
Born	(1891-01-31)31 January 1891
Died	1935
Nationality	United Kingdom
Known for	Founder member of the Himalayan Club

Frederick Williamson CIE (1891-1935) was a British Political Officer stationed in Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet in the 1930s. He was also a keen explorer and founder member of the Himalayan Club. It was 'largely owing to his influence and the esteem in which he was held in Lhasa' that Tibet permitted the 1935 and 1936 Mount Everest Expeditions. His life was cut short by a chronic illness which occurred in Lhasa during November 1935 on a mission to negotiate a settlement between Tibet and Thubten Choekyi Nyima, 9th Panchen Lama. On the announcement of his death, the Government of India stated that 'it robbed the Government of a most valuable officer'.

Williamson was born on 31 January 1891 and educated at Bedford Modern School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Williamson entered the Indian Civil Service in 1914, initially serving in Bihar and Orissa. At the outbreak of World War I, he saw military duty with the Gurkha Rifles in India (1915–16) and Mesopotamia (1916-18) where he was wounded. He later saw service in Palestine and Egypt (1918–19) where he was mentioned in despatches.

After World War I he held various appointments in Bihar (1919–22), was Secretary to the British Resident of Mysore (1922) and was Secretary to the British Resident of Hyderabad (1923). He later became the British Trade Agent at Gyantse (1924) and Assistant to the Political Officer in Sikkim. His obituary in The Times states that he ‘quickly felt the attraction of the romance and mystery’ of those lands, and 'in his close study of the customs, folklore, and languages of the people followed in the footsteps of Sir Charles Bell'.