R. L.

Holdsworth
Romilly Lisle Holdsworth, commonly known as R. L.
R. L. Holdsworth
Holdsworth, (25 February 1899 – 20 June 1976) was an English
scholar, academic, educationalist, cricketer and a distinguished
Himalayan mountaineer. He was a member of the first expedition
to Kamet in 1931, which included other stalwarts such as Eric
Shipton and Frank Smythe.[1] Holdsworth, along with Shipton and
Smythe, are credited with the discovery of the Valley of Flowers,
now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, during their return from
Kamet.[1][2]

Contents
Born 25 February 1899
Early life Mysore, India
Career Died 20 June 1976
Climbing highlights (aged 77)
Cricket career Somerset, England

See also Other names Holdie

References Alma mater Magdalen College,

Oxford
External links
Occupation Scholar,
schoolmaster,
Early life cricketer,
mountaineer
Holdsworth was educated at Repton School, where he was a pupil Known for Schoolmaster at
of Victor Gollancz, later a famous publisher. He attended Repton Harrow School,
under the headmastership of William Temple, the future
England
Archbishop of Canterbury.[3] He later attended the University of
Deputy Headmaster
Oxford, where he read Literae Humaniores or Classics at
at The Doon School,
Magdalen College.[3] At Oxford he earned a Triple Blue for
India
cricket, football and boxing.[4] He was a first-class batsman and
played cricket for Sussex, Warwickshire and Marylebone Cricket Principal of Islamia
Club.[5][6][7][8] College University

Holdsworth briefly served in the First World War as a lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade in 1918 (he served
until 1919), after leaving Repton.[9]

Career
Holdsworth held various distinguished positions in his lifetime. In 1922, he joined Harrow School as a
schoolmaster. He was made the master-in-charge of cricket and played for Sussex County Cricket Club. In
order to encourage ski mountaineering at Harrow, he established a club called the Marmots.[10] After
leaving Harrow in 1933, he took over as principal of Islamia
College in Peshawar, Pakistan (at the time in British India), in
which position he served for seven years until 1940, when he
joined The Doon School in Dehradun.[11] At Doon, he met his old
colleague J. A. K. Martyn, whom he had known since his days at
Harrow. Martyn was the second headmaster of Doon School.[12]

He later retired in Somerset, England.

The Oxford University Cricket Team,
1922; Holdsworth sits on the chair at
Climbing highlights the left corner.

1924 – Holdsworth was invited by George Mallory to join

him on the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition but he was so adamant on taking his skis
along that the invitation was withdrawn. Holdsworth later remarked that his "intransigence
saved my life" because it was on this expedition that Mallory disappeared along with
Irvine.[11]
1931 – Holdsworth was a member of the first expedition to climb Kamet (7,756 m) in 1931, at
the time the highest peak yet climbed.[13][14] During the Kamet expedition Holdsworth,
Shipton and Smythe discovered what they called the Valley of Flowers[15] in the Himalaya,
now in the state of Uttarakhand, India. Holdsworth also holds the record of smoking a pipe at
the summit of Mt. Kamet.[16]

Cricket career
Holdsworth was active in first-class cricket from 1919 to 1942. He played for Warwickshire and Sussex.
He appeared in 109 first-class matches as a righthanded batsman who scored 4,716 runs with a highest
score of 202 among eight centuries.[17]

See also
Role of The Doon School in Indian mountaineering

References
Notes

1. "Colonel Frank Smythe – Francis Sydney Smythe, 1900–1949" (http://www.zipworld.com.a

u/~lnbdds/home/smythefrank.htm). Voyages in Time ~ The Family Vault. Retrieved 20 June
2012.
2. Nalni D. Jayal (2006). "Early Years of Indian Mountaineering" (http://www.himalayanclub.or
g/journal/early-years-of-indian-mountaineering/). Himalayan Club. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
3. "OBITUARY – KENNETH MASON" (http://www.himalayanclub.org/journal/obituary/).
Himalayan Club. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
4. Shalini Shah (27 November 2009). "VISHRANTI: an ode to rest" (http://www.thehindu.com/lif
e-and-style/travel/article55820.ece). The Hindu : Life & Style. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
5. "First-class Bowling For Each Team by Romilly Holdsworth" (https://archive.today/20130121
072619/http://cricketarchive.com/Warwickshire/Players/13/13717/f_Bowling_by_Team.html).
Cricket Archive. Archived from the original (https://cricketarchive.com/Warwickshire/Players/
13/13717/f_Bowling_by_Team.html) on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
 6. "First-class Batting and Fielding Against Each Opponent by Romilly Holdsworth" (https://arc
hive.today/20130120003617/http://cricketarchive.com/Warwickshire/Players/13/13717/f_Batt
ing_by_Opponent.html). Cricket Archive. Archived from the original (https://cricketarchive.co
m/Warwickshire/Players/13/13717/f_Batting_by_Opponent.html) on 20 January 2013.
Retrieved 20 June 2012.
7. "County Championship Matches played by Romilly Holdsworth (62)" (https://archive.today/2
0130120015432/http://stats.cricketworld.com/Players/13/13717/County_Championship_Mat
ches.html). Cricket World Statistics. Archived from the original (http://stats.cricketworld.com/
Players/13/13717/County_Championship_Matches.html) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved
20 June 2012.
8. "FIRST-CLASS BATTING AND FIELDING AGAINST EACH OPPONENT BY ROMILLY
HOLDSWORTH" (https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13717/f_Batting_by_Oppon
ent.html). CricketArchive. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
9. Dale Vargas (2010). "Assistant Masters" (http://www.harrowassociation.com/netcommunity/d
ocument.doc?id=195). Harrow Association. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
10. "IN MEMORIAM – ANDRE ROCH (1906–2002)" (http://www.himalayanclub.org/journal/in-m
emoriam-14/). Himalayan Club. 2003. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
11. Shaw, Michael (2008). In Search of Time Wasted: Peregrinations from Seil Island (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=7U0Gc1eJ1BEC&pg=PA22). AuthorHouse. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-
4343-4443-4.
12. "Trek to Harkidoon- Ruinsaratal- Kalanag Base camp" (http://www.myhimalayanadventure.c
om/trek-details-harkidoon-ruinsara-tal--kalanag-base-camp.html). My Himalayan Adventure.
Retrieved 20 June 2012.
13. Kapadia, Harish (1999). Across Peaks and Passes in Garhwal Himalaya (https://books.goog
le.com/books?id=KptmxrqhKl4C&pg=PA40&dq=1931+highest+peak+kamet#v=onepage&q
=1931%20highest%20peak%20kamet&f=false). Indus Publishing Company. p. 40.
ISBN 978-81-7387-097-2.
14. Narinder Kumar and Kapil Malhotra, Kamet East, Kamet West: The Kumaoni Expedition,
New Delhi: Vision, 1987, ISBN 978-81-7094-003-6, p. 12 (https://books.google.com/books?
ei=qx7iT9T8EKeQ2QW0zZGcCw&id=V5lWAAAAMAAJ&dq=Kamet+highest+1931&q=It+w
as+first+climbed+by+Frank+Smvthe%27s+team+in+1931%2C+the+highest+mountain+ever
+climbed+till+then.#search_anchor).
15. F. S. Smythe (1949). The Valley of Flowers (https://archive.org/details/valleyofflowers00smy
t). W.W. Norton. ISBN 81-85019-98-3.
16. "In Memoriam" (http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1990-91_files/AJ%2019
90%20295-319%20In%20Memoriam.pdf) (PDF). The Alpine Journal. p. 307. Retrieved
20 June 2012.
17. Romilly Holdsworth at CricketArchive (https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13717/1
3717.html)

Bibliography

F. S. Smythe, Kamet Conquered (https://archive.org/details/KametConquered) (1932)

Gollanz, London
F. S. Smythe, An Alpine Journey (1934) Hodder, London
F. S. Smythe, The Spirit of the Hills (1935) Hodder, London
F. S. Smythe, The Valley of the Flowers (https://archive.org/details/ValleyOfFlowers) (1938)
Hodder, London

External links
 R. L. Holdsworth (https://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/14390.html) at
ESPNcricinfo
R. L. Holdsworth (https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13717/13717.html) at
CricketArchive (subscription required)
First-Class matches played by R. L. Holdsworth (http://www.aucklandes.cricketarchive.com/
Archive/Players/13/13717/First-Class_Matches.html)

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