source: Bristol Post
The village of Frenchay has remembered a former villager, Francis Fox Tuckett FRGS, who died 100 years ago, by unveiling a blue plaque on his life-long home, The Old House.
It was performed by Tim Bowles, chairman of Winterbourne Parish Council, who sponsored the plaque.
Francis Fox Tuckett was of one of the great figures of the golden age of Alpinism, a scientific mountaineer who was a major contributor to mapping the mountain chain.
In 1865, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy conferred on him a knighthood – the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus – for his work in mapping the Dolomites.
Tuckett’s memory is still revered in northern Italy, where geographical features, a mountain shelter, hotels, and even a sporting trophy bear his name.
A representative of the Italian Cultural Centre in Bristol was present at the plaque’s unveiling.
The following day, at a mountain shelter, Rifugio Tuckett, in the Dolomites, the Italian authorities also held an event to remember Tuckett.
The display in Frenchay village museum about Tuckett continues through the summer months.
The museum, just inside entrance B of Frenchay Hospital, is open in the afternoons on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Admission is free.