Diksha Sundriyal
In Apple TV’s ‘Tenzing,’ the quest to summit Mount Everest takes the protagonist through a trying journey. Born in Tibet and raised in Nepal, Tenzing Norgay’s dream of climbing Everest brings him to Darjeeling, India, where he finds a mountaineering community that fosters his talents. While several people tend to dismiss him in a crowd of Sherpas, who are sought after for climbing the treacherous peaks of the Himalayas, Jill Henderson sees the fire in him and recognizes his talents. It is she who pushes him to join the 1953 expedition, which eventually makes him a historical figure, immortalized in the world of mountaineering. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Jill Henderson Had a Major Role to Play in the Everest Expedition
Jill Henderson is based on a real woman who worked as the honorary secretary of the Himalayan Club in Darjeeling, India, from 1951 to 1955. She was born in Essex, England, in the early 1900s and was named Enid Newman. She changed her name to Jill after marrying her husband, Jack Henderson, with whom she is said to have owned the Rungneet tea plantation. Her work in the mountaineering club required her to work closely with the Sherpa community as she recruited them for various expeditions. From keeping records to setting down the rules and requirements for particular expeditions to handling other arrangements, particularly related to the paperwork, key aspects of the expeditions were overseen by Jill.
She was known to visit the families of the Sherpas she worked with to ensure they were in good health and to see if they needed her help with anything. With her husband, she hosted mountaineers such as John Kempe and Frank Smythe and arranged gatherings and meetups to foster a strong sense of community. When the expedition was underway, she would take care of other things, like maintaining regular communication with them, tracking their mail, and even sending them things. Tenzing Norgay also worked with her on several occasions, and they developed a good rapport. It is likely that, much like Jill in the movie, the real-life Jill also knew how important it was for him to climb Mt. Everest.
When the summit attempt with the Swiss team failed in the fall of 1952, Tenzing decided to take a break from any more attempts. His family was also unwilling to let him go again so soon because each attempt took him away from home for months, and the risk of death on the mountain never really went away. Still, when the British team, led by John Hunt, revealed their plans to attempt the summit in 1953, Jill urged Tenzing to reconsider. She first asked him in 1952, but the previous attempt was still fresh in his memory. Then, she asked him again in January 1953, but even then, Tenzing didn’t feel confident about returning to the mountain so soon.
Jill Henderson Believed in Tenzing Norgay From Day One
Reportedly, Jill Henderson didn’t give up so easily, and it took a couple of weeks, but she eventually succeeded in getting Tenzing Norgay to join the expedition. Even then, Tenzing had a condition: he didn’t want to be just another Sherpa for the team, but wanted to be acknowledged as a full member of the climbing team. This was not a common practice with the Western expeditions at the time. But Tenzing had already been acknowledged as such for the 1952 Swiss expedition, and he didn’t see why the British couldn’t extend the same courtesy to him. Supported by Jill, Hunt’s team welcomed him as a member. Reportedly, on the day of the summit, Tenzing wore the jumper Jill had given to him, acknowledging her role in his and the expedition’s success.
Reportedly, when the team finally returned to Darjeeling, Tenzing brought her a Lhasa Apso dog as a gift. Jill and her husband left India in 1958. After briefly staying in England, she spent a few years in America and South Africa. She passed away in 1991 at age 89. When the filmmakers chose to take on Tenzing Norgay’s story, they knew they couldn’t sidestep someone like Jill Henderson, without whose involvement the face of the 1953 expedition, among other things, would have looked very different. In preparation for her role, actress Caitriona Balfe reached out to Jill’s family and spoke with her niece to gain a deeper understanding of Jill’s life and personality and to accurately portray the indelible mark she left on the world.
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