Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband (31 May 1863 – 31 July 1942) was a British Army officer, explorer and spiritual writer. He is remembered for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia; especially the 1904 British expedition to Tibet, led by him, and for his writings on Asia and foreign policy. Younghusband held positions including British commissioner to Tibet and president of the Royal Geographical Society.
Early life
Francis Younghusband was born on 31 May 1863 to a British military family at Murree, Punjab, British India (now Pakistan), the second son of Major-General John William Younghusband and his wife Clara Jane Shaw who were married at Freshford, Somerset near Bath, Somerset in 1856. His maternal uncle, Robert Shaw, was a noted explorer of Central Asia. His paternal uncle, Lieutenant-General Charles Younghusband CB FRS, was a British Army officer and meteorologist. His brother was Major-General George Younghusband. Many other members of his family were serving army officers in India.
As an infant, Francis was taken to live in England by his mother. When Clara returned to India in 1867 she left her son to be educated by two of his strictly religious aunts, Anne and Eliza Younghusband, who were educating several other British children from Bengal at the family home in Freshford, Somerset near Bath, Somerset. In 1870 his mother and father returned to England, although Francis is still recorded on the 1871 census as living with his aunts. In 1876 at age thirteen, Francis entered Clifton College, Bristol. In 1881 he entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as a subaltern in the 1st King's Dragoon Guards in May 1882.
