George Trebeck

This article is about the geographer. For the North American game show host, see George Alexander Trebek.

George Trebeck (1800–1825) was born in Middlesex, England in the year 1800. He moved to Calcutta, Bengal Presidency circa 1815 with his father Charles Trebeck and brother of the same name. George Trebeck, who was trained as a solicitor, was recruited by William Moorcroft at the age of 19 as his geographer and draftsman and second-in-charge of an expedition to Central Asia, ostensibly to find horses.^[1] Along with Moorcroft, Trebeck travelled through the Himalayan provinces of United Provinces, the Punjab, Ladakh, Kashmir, Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara. They were unable to purchase horses. During the return journey, both Moorcroft and Trebeck died of illness, Trebeck a few months after Moorcroft in late 1825, in Mazar, Afghanistan.^[2][3]

An abridged version of the journals of Moorcroft and Trebeck was published posthumously in London in 1841. Called Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Punjab in Ladakh and Kashmir in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara From 1819 to 1825 (in two volumes), it remains the sole literary legacy of the duo.^[4][3]

References

1. Meyer & Brysac, Tournament of Shadows (1999), p. 29.
2. Meyer & Brysac, Tournament of Shadows (1999), p. 50.
3. Speake, Jennifer, ed. (2014), Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, p. 503, ISBN 9781135456634
4. Meyer & Brysac, Tournament of Shadows (1999), p. 51.

Sources

• Meyer, Karl E.; Brysac, Shareen Blair (1999), Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia, New York: Basic Books, ISBN 978-1-58243-028-7 – via archive.org

Further reading

1. Phillimore III page 508
2. George Trebeck's Will held in the East India Centre, British Library, St Pancras, London, England 'Indexes to Wills - Bengal, 1780–1909' IOR reference: L/AG/34/29/1-154
3. George Trebeck's Burial Record East India Register, East India Centre, British Library, St Pancras, London, England
4. The Moorcroft Collection, East India Centre, British Library, St Pancras, London, England MSS EUR/F 37 (Private Papers)
5. Families in British India Society (see article Families In British India Society)
6. Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Punjab in Ladakh and Kashmir in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara From 1819 to 1825 Volume II by William Moorcroft and George Trebeck, Publisher:Elibron Classics ISBN 1-4212-5081-0

External links

• Works by or about George Trebeck at the Internet Archive