Sir Edmund Hillary

Sir Edmund Hillary

“It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”

Why is he an important NZ figure?

Edmund was the first person ever to reach the top of Mount Everest {29 May 1953{.He got the Patron gold medal, Padma Vibhushan and the Hubbard medal. He was crowned Sir by the Queen.He was also awarded The Knight of the order of the Garter, The member of the order of New Zealand and the knight commander of the order of the British Empire. He was in WWll at Delta camp near Blenheim, New Zealand.

Background Information

Edmund grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. He was born on the 20 July 1919. When he was about 2 he and his family moved to Tuakau as his Father acquired more land. He then went to Tuakau Primary where he was smarter than his year level and moved up two years but he had some trouble in high school and only got average grades. His Mother’s name was Gertrude Hillary nee Clark and his Father’s name was Percival Augustus Hillary. Edmund had two siblings including his sister June and his brother Rex. He had three children Peter, Sarah and Belinda. Sadly in 1975 his wife, Louise and his youngest daughter, Belinda died in a plane crash while going to Kathmandu to meet him.

Why do you think our house is named after him?

Edmund Hillary never ever gave up and in Hillary you should never ever give up either.He accomplished something no one had ever achieved before him and at HNI you should try everything you can. He climbed the biggest mountain in the world and as he did this he needed people along side him who believed in him. At school {Hillary} we have mountains to climb {learning} and we need people to help us and believe in us. Those people are our teachers and peers.