# Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Burnaby, Frederick

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​BURNABY, Lieut.-Colonel Frederick, Commanding Royal Horse Guards, son of the late Rev. G. Burnaby, by Harriet, sister of the well-known Harry Villebois, Esq., of Marham House, Norfolk, was born at Bedford, March 8, 1842, and received his education at Harrow School and in Germany. He entered the Royal Horse Guards, Blues, Sept. 30, 1859. So passionately fond was he of fencing and gymnastics that he became very muscular at the expense of his vitality and broke down. He was now recommended to travel, and accordingly visited South America, Central Africa, and most parts of Europe. In 1875 he determined to go to Khiva, although the journey was beset by almost insurmountable obstacles. Captain Burnaby was exceptionally qualified for this particular journey by his acquaintance with the Russian and Arabic languages, and he was, besides, as much at home on a camel as in a ​canoe, a sledge, or a balloon—as in a railway carriage or a steamer. Moreover, he delighted in grappling with a difficulty, and his determination to penetrate Central Asia was much stimulated by the assurance that it was impossible. At more than one station the passage of foreigners was absolutely prohibited, and he only got through by his knowledge of the language or the inability of the inspectors to read his passport. On arriving at Kazala, near the mouth of the Syr Daria, he was allowed by the commandant to proceed, it being assumed that he would go at once to the fort of Petro-Alexandrovsk, near the river Oxus, in the territory lately acquired by Russia. Had he done so he would never have reached the capital; but suspecting this, he made a détour, crossed the Oxus into the Khanate, and found his way to the capital. He had intended to proceed thence to Bokhara, but his further progress was arrested by a message from the Russian authorities "inviting" him to recross the river and go to Petro-Alexandrovsk, where he found a telegram awaiting him from the Duke of Cambridge, Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, requiring his immediate return to European Russia. In the winter of 1876–77, Captain Burnaby went on horseback through Turkey in Asia and all the way from Scutari to Khoi in Persia, returning by Kars, Ardahan, Batoum, and Trebizond, to Constantinople. He was military correspondent of the Times with the army of Don Carlos in Spain. At the general election of 1880 Major Burnaby contested Birmingham in the Conservative interest; and, although his opponents included two gentlemen, Messrs. J. Bright and Chamberlain, who were afterwards Cabinet Ministers, yet no fewer than 15,716 votes were given in his favour. Lieut.-Colonel Burnaby was a member of the Council of the Aëronautic Society of Great Britain, and he has made 19 balloon ascents, being on several occasions unaccompanied by any professional aëronaut. In March, 1882, he ascended alone in the "Eclipse" balloon, from Dover, and, after some vicissitudes in mid-air, descended near Château de Montigny, near Envermeu, in Normandy. His works are: "A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia. With Maps and an Appendix, containing, amongst other information, a series of March-Routes, translated from several Russian works;" 3rd ed. Lond., 1876; "On Horseback through Asia Minor," 1877; 7th ed.; and "A Ride across the Channel, and other Adventures in the Air," 1882. A brief account of the life of Lieut.-Colonel Burnaby, written by Mr. R. K. Mann, has lately been published.