Kingdon-Ward, Frank
Frank Kingdon-Ward (November 6, 1885 - April 8, 1958), also known as Frank Kingdon Ward, was an English botanist, plant collector, author, and explorer. Born in Manchester, went on about twenty-five expeditions over the course of a fifty year career, exploring parts of North Western China, Tibet, Assam, and Myanmar. He discovered numerous plant species, two of which are named for his two wives, and survived several accidents during his explorations, including being impaled by a bamboo spike, falling off a cliff, and being close to the epicenter of a 9.6 magnitude earthquake while in Assam. During the 1930s, Kingdom-Ward served as a spy for the British India Office. He even caused an international scandal in 1935. Tibetan authorities arrested after he crossed the Sela Pass into Tibet after being refused permission to do so. This incident caused the British to investigate the border situation and it was discovered that the region in question had been ceded by the Tibetans to British India in 1914. Kingdon-Ward was active until only years before his death, when, at the age of sixty-eight, he trekked through the Ukhrul district of Manipur, India. Kingdon-Ward was married twice. He first married Florinda Norman-thompson on April 11, 1923 and later married Jeawn Macklin on November 12, 1947. He died after suffering a stroke and falling into a coma, from which he never recovered.
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