The two names above are from the Durham School logbook, where students' names are recorded upon admittance. The names are that of Henry Champion de Crespigny and Frederick Philip Champion de Crespigny. The brothers entered the school in January 1896, with Frederick leaving in July 1899 and Henry leaving December 1900. Their names and singular biographies were brought to my attention by Anne Young, who recently wrote to me researching Henry, her fifth cousin twice removed. Her article on Henry Champion de Crespigny is available on her blog, where she collates all of her family research: H is for Henry | Anne's Family History 

Henry was born in 1882 to Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny; his younger brother Frederick was born in 1884. While Frederick did not make much of a mark on the school, his brother played in the 1st XI 1899-1901 and the 1st XV 1899-1900. His rugby profile in the 1900 issue of The Dunelmian reads "Weight, 10 st. 5 lbs. Has kept his place through keen play, but suffers from lack of weight. Gets away well from touch, and can use his feet." His brother Frederick did not have his skill in cricket and rugby, but was awarded the Ker Junior Gymnasium Cup in 1899. 

After school the brothers took different paths. Henry entered R.M.C. Sandhurst in 1901, gaining his commission in the 48th Northamptonshire Regiment the following year. He became lieutenant in 1904, and by 1911 he was captain of the 56th Punjabi Rifles (Frontier Force). He fought in Egypt, Gallipoli and France during the First World War, and was eventually promoted to Major. He was thrice mentioned in despatches and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. He retired in 1930, but at the age of 57 joined the R.A.F.V.R. upon the outbreak of the Second World War. He retired for the final time in 1942 with the position of squadron leader. Frederick, meanwhile, joined the Royal Navy after school, becoming lieutenant in 1907 and commanding the H.M. destroyer Skirmisher in 1914 and the H.M. destroyer Sheldrake in 1917. He was also mentioned in despatches for his work during the war. He retired in 1920, but was promoted to commander, albeit one on the retired list, in 1924.

One curious incident in the life of Henry Champion de Crespigny came in May 1911, when he was captain of the 56th Punjabi Rifles (Frontier Force). He was enlisted by another officer of the Punjabi Rifles, Captain Arthur Morris Slingsby. Kamet is a pyramid-shaped mountain located in Uttarakand, India, and is said to be the 29th highest mountain in the world. The account of the ascent was found by Anne Young in Francis Sidney Smythe's Kamet Conquered (1932), which itself drew heavily from A. Morris Slingsby article "An Attempt on Kamet", found in the 1912 Volume 4 No. 12 issue of The Yorkshire Rambling Club's Journal.

The approach to the mountain was difficult. The expedition, comprised of eighty-six locals and enough provisions for two and a half months, set off from Ranikhet and marched 200 miles through dense mountain forest. They met with the Rawal or 'Chief Priest' of Badrinath, who advised them against taking the trip as the winter snowfall had obscured the path, with "telegraph poles bent double and the bridges carried away". Nevertheless, they continued up the Ghastoli Glacier, toiling knee deep through the snow. At 18,000 feet they were overcome by mountain sickness, and had to halt the climb and set up camp. A day spent acclimatising allowed them to continue. "After two hours' walking, the foot of steep slopes leading up to the col was reached. The party found themselves standing in a snowfield almost surrounded by an amphitheatre of ice, snow, and ice-covered rocks, cleft by gullies stretching up to the col some 1,500 ft. above them. The slopes to the col were very steep, but a thin covering of frozen snow over the ice sufficed for footholds and saved them the exertion of step-cutting. At last, however, stepcutting became necessary."

Cutting out steps from the harsh ice was slow work, and many members of the party, dispirited, refused to go any further. As there was nowhere to hitch the rope there would be no hope of saving anyone who slipped. After nine hours of climbing they reached the top of the 'col', the lowest point between the two peaks. This stood at 21,000 feet, and they were able, with some difficulty, to set up camp. Slingsby described the scene as follows:

"After settling down in camp, I went on to the top of the pass and got a glimpse of Kamet and the country to the north. The mists slid away, and the panorama before me was magnificent. Just below the corniced slope of the col, a very high glacier, starting from the north-west side of Kamet, stretched away at our feet and curved gradually north until it merged in the low grey hills of the distant Sutlej Valley. Beyond, the untrodden summits of the Kailas Mountains rose tier after tier up into the skies, girt here and there with long straight lines of hovering clouds, which seemed to add considerably to their height... To the south and west were countless small peaks, and here and there a larger one that raised its head above its fellows, their eternal snows flushing pale yellow in the rays of the setting sun. As I gazed on this sea of peaks, as yet untrodden by man, the last parting rays of the sun lit up their upper slopes, the wind dropped, the peaks grew dim beneath the twinkling stars, the avalanches from Kamet ceased, and over all a great stillness reigned." 

The following day, the expedition refused to follow Slingsby and Champion de Crespigny in advancing any further, but the expedition marked great progress in climbing this hitherto unclimbable mountain, and the area they found is still called Slingsby's Col.

Henry retired in 1930 to Salthouse Hall in Norfolk, where he lived with his brother. In 1941, following the death of his cousin Claude, he became the sixth baronet; upon his death in 1946, his brother Frederick became the seventh, before he in turn died on the 12th August 1947. The local inhabitants of the village called the brothers 'the Commander and the Colonel', and they are still remembered fondly to this day. I would again like to thank Anne Young for her excellent research, and would encourage you to read through her website for further information on the Champion de Crespigny family.