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Alexander Frederick Richmond Wollaston (1875-1930)

I came across an article, 'Exploring my Father' (The Times' 7 April 2003) by Nicholas Wollaston. The book it reviews is called 'My Father, Sandy'. In 1921 he went on Mallory's first Everest expedition, before opting for the peaceful life and becoming a Fellow and senior tutor of King's College Cambridge. In 1930 an undergraduate named Potts shot dead Wollaston, a policeman, and himself. The book is an attempt to rescue his father from being known as 'the don who was murdered' and switch the emphasis to his distinguished career as an explorer. 40 plants were named after him including the distinguished blue-and-silver Primula Wollastonii (available on the internet from specialist nurseries) and the Lobelia Wollestonii .

Sandy Wollaston, as he was usually known, was the son of George Hyde Wollaston (1845-1926) and Sarah Richmond. He was educated at Clifton College where his father was a master and at King's College, Cambridge, obtaining a pass degree. After leaving Cambridge he studied medicine and in 1903 he became M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P.. Medicine was not his real interest in life however, and gave it so that he could explore and pursue the study of fauna and flora. While at Cambridge he went exploring Iceland and, when he had completed his examinations, he went off with an expedition to the Ruwenzori Mountains in Central Africa in 1905. One of the peaks in that range has been called after him. His book, "From Ruwenzori to the Dongo", was written as a result of this expedition. In 1911 he went out to New Guinea. Some of the tribes were still living in a Stone Age Civilisation, and cannibalism was still practised. His book "Pygmies and Papuans" describes his adventures.

Sandy's war service in 1914-1918 was as a ship's doctor in the navy. Towards the end of the conflict he was attached to a combined operation against the Germans in West Africa and was awarded the D.S.O.

In 1920 he was appointed a tutor at King's College, Cambridge, a post that he held till his death. In 1922, at the age of 47, he went with the Mount Everest expedition which carried out a reconnaissance of the mountain. He was the expedition's medical officer, naturalist, geographer and photographer. In 1930 the incident mentioned at the beginning occurred. A mad Indian undergraduate who subsequently committed suicide murdered him. The Indian assumed that Sandy was in someway responsible for his examination failures.

Source:
The History of the Wollastons. Henry Woods Wollaston