LYSONS, Markham Carthew




Franz Josef Glacier

Markham (Mark) Carthew Lysons

(1907-1944)
A.R.P.S., F.R.S.A.
Associate, Royal Photographic Society
Fellow, Royal Society of Arts


born 27 August 1907, Watson Street, New Plymouth [1]
son of Ethel Susan Eliza Lysons nee Carthew [2] and
Edmund William Markham Lysons [3]
Husband of Kathleen Isabel Lysons [4]
Sergeant, 23rd Bn., New Zealand Infantry,
Killed in action at Cassino, Italy aged 36
3 April 1944 [5]


above - Franz Josef Glacier Hotel, Waiho


pencil inscription "Fox Glacier' but more likely Franz Josef Glacier

On the way to Glacier


Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13502, 28 August 1907, Page 2
Stone's Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough and Westland Directory June 1939- 1941 and 1943
Lysons M. C., Franz Josef Glacier, Westland

Archives NZ - Chch Branch hold Probate Records for the following:
LYSONS Markham Carthew, Waiho Gorge, Photographer 1944 (Greymouth Probate Files)

MARRIAGE.
LYSONS — CARTHEW.- On the 23rd January, 1906, at St. Mary's, New Plymouth, by the Rev. F. G. Evans, Vicar, Edmund William Markham, elder son of Colonel E. H. B. Lysons, [Edmund Hicks Beach Lysons 1842-1916] late R.L.M.I., of London, England, to Ethel Susan Eliza, youngest daughter of the late Edward Carthew, Barrister-at-Law, of New Plymouth.
Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 130519, 23 January 1906, Page 4

Obituary. Member of New Zealand Alpine Club: "Mountaineers throughout New Zealand will have learned with deep regret of the death of Mark Lysons. His passing, in the service of his country, so soon after his arrival in Italy, has come as a terrible blow. Many people knew Mark. Some knew him as a guide, others as a photographer; but we in Waiho, and many others too, knew him for what he was - just Mark.

Reared in the shadow of Egmont, Mark early showed his love for the snows. Coming south, he enrolled as a student at Canterbury College, and began making his first trips into our high hills. Among his early climbs he brought off the first winter ascent of Mt. Rolleston via a new route from the head of the Waimakariri Valley, a climb that has not been repeated, although parties have made traverses from the opposite direction.

Before long, Mark found he was to make the decision which was to alter the course of his life. So enamoured with the life had he become that he decided to give up his University career and make Waiho his home. He never had cause to regret it, and mountaineering has been the richer.

In Waiho, Mark was more than just a climber and a photographer. He was our leader in almost everything, and among other activities used to take the services for us in that little church so well known to many. Joining the Army in 1942, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, but on embarkation, in January of this year, he reverted to the rank of Temporary Sergeant. Arrived in Italy, his call came too soon." (from the New Zealand Alpine Journal, Vol.X, No.31, June 1944)

[1] birth registered 1907/15472[2] died 1965 - New Plymouth District Council[3] registered surveyor in New Plymouth born 7 January 1871 (Glasgow Herald, Scotland, Monday, January 9, 1871; Issue 9679).- died 1959)[4] she died about 1993 - the Christchurch Branch of Archives New Zealand hold her probate records. CAHX 2989 CH989 Box 1 CH 92/1993[5] death registered 1945/39830
Two photographs by Mark Lysons were use in the book "A Tramper in South Westland" by Elsie K. Morton, November 1951. They show Lake Matheson and the Franz Josef Hotel.


2 comments:

picquic said...

I have a B&W photograph (positive; 8.5" x 6.5" approx) of a man (presumably Charles/Charlie Wollin at a small Hydro Electric station inscribed on the back M. C. Lyons; Waiho Gorge; NZ.

Is someone able to assist verifying location and when taken?

Early Canterbury Photography said...

Hello, I have only seen Lyon photographs from the Franz Josef area, so it could be possibly from that area.