Fun Facts Friday: Charles Montagu Doughty

Charles Montagu Doughty (19 August, 1843 – 20 January, 1926) was a poet, adventurer, and writer from England. He is known for his book Travels in Arabia (1888), which was published in two volumes.

Books by Charles Montagu Doughty*

Fun Facts about Charles Montagu Doughty:

1. Charles Montagu Doughty was born in Theberton Hall, Suffolk, England. His father was a reverend, and his mother was the daughter of a reverend, judge, and politician.
2. Being of such a prominent family, the young Mr. Doughty went to private schools.
3. Doughty traveled in Europe, Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. He even attempted to make a pilgrimage to the hajj at Mecca, and got as far as Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ.
4. During his travels he studied inscriptions and monuments built by the Nabataean civilization.
5. Travels in Arabia had little influence when it was published. However, slowly but surely it became an example of excellent travel writing.
6. T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, endorsement caused Travels in Arabia to be republished in the 1920s. Lawrence even wrote a new introduction to the book.
7. The Dawn in Britain, an epic, six-volume, poem published in 1906 started a discussion on the inherent meaning of words.
8. In 1886 Charles Montagu Doughty married Caroline Ameila, daughter of Sir William Montagu Scott McMurdo GCB, an English army general. The couple had three daughters.
9. Charles Doughty-Wylie, a lieutenant colonel in the English Army and recipient of the Victoria Cross, was Mr. Doughty’s nephew. Rear Admiral Henry Montagu Doughty was his younger brother.
10. The Royal Geographical Society awarded Mr. Doughty the Founder’s Gold Modeal for his writing, as well as travels.

Books by Charles Montagu Doughty*

Zohar — Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on books