Ney Elias

Ney Elias, CIE, (10 February 1844 – 31 May 1897) was a British explorer, geographer, and diplomat, most known for his extensive travels in Asia. Modern scholars speculate that he was a key intelligence agent for Britain during the Great Game. Elias travelled extensively in the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamirs, and Turkestan regions of High Asia.

Life

Education

He born at Widmore in Kent on 10 February 1844, was the second son of Ney Elias (died 1891) of Kensington. Educated in London, Paris, and Dresden, he became in 1865 a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and studied geography and surveying under the society's instructors.

Travels

In 1866, he went to Shanghai in the employment of a mercantile house; and in 1868 volunteered to lead an expedition and examine the old and new courses of the Hoang-ho. His account of this journey was published in the Royal Geographical Society's Journal in a paper which gave, Sir Roderick Murchison said, for the first time accurate information about the diversion of the Yellow River.