Ella Christie | |
|---|---|
 by unknown photographer in 1909 | |
| Born | Isabella Robertson Christie 21 April 1861 Cockpen, Scotland |
| Died | 29 January 1949 (aged 87) Strathearn Road, Edinburgh |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation(s) | Traveller, gardener, landowner |
an Isabella "Ella" Robertson Christie FRSGS FSA Scot FRGS (21 April 1861 - 29 January 1949) was a pioneering Scottish traveller and explorer, landowner, gardener and author.
Christie was born on 21 April 1861 at Millbank in Cockpen, near Bonnyrigg, to Alison (née Philp, c.1817–1894) and John Christie (1824–1902), a Scottish industrialist and landowner. Christie had an elder brother, John Coldwells who died in childhood in his 12th year in 1872, [1] and a younger sister, Alice Margaret. [1] In 1865 Christie's father purchased the Castleton estate in the Ochils, renaming it Cowden Castle, and the family moved there. Christie and her sister were educated at home by her parents and governesses. From an early age she made annual trips with her parents to Europe including Spain, Italy, Germany and the Low Countries. After her mother's death and her sister's marriage Christie continued to travel with her father and also alone or with a friend. She visited Egypt, Palestine and Syria and started to write about her trips.
On her father's death in 1902 it was found that he had disinherited both Christie and her sister, leaving the entirety of his estate to an orphanage that he had founded without their knowledge. They contested the will and in 1903 it was settled with the estate being divided between the two sisters and the orphanage. Christie lived on at Cowden Castle and managed the estate. [2] [3] [4]
After her father's death Christie's travels became more ambitious and she began to travel more widely. From 1904 to 1905 she travelled with her maid, Humphries, initially to India and then on to Kashmir, Tibet, Ceylon, Malaya and Borneo. Being well connected and carrying letters of introduction she attended a banquet with the Maharaja of Kashmir and dined with Lord Kitchener. Her adventures saw her camping in the snow at Chorbat Pass, sailing in a cargo ship full of pigs, travelling by pack horse and cart in the Kashmir wilderness and trekking by foot for 60 miles (97 km) in the Desoi mountains. [2]
In 1907, she visited China, Korea and Japan. While in Japan Christie was fascinated by the Japanese formal style of gardening, an interest that would inspire her to create a Japanese garden at Cowden Castle. [2] [3] [4]
In 1910, she packed a camp bed, stove, lamp, oatmeal and biscuits and travelled to Russian Turkestan. Her journey took her to Constantinople across the Black Sea, through Georgia to the Caspian Sea and onward to Ashkabad and Merv. She travelled by train and boat along the Silk Road, visiting Bukhara, Samarkand, Kokand, and finally Andhizan. [2]
Christie undertook a further trip to the Russian Empire in 1912. Starting in Saint Petersburg she travelled by train, steamer and droshky to Tashkent, Samarkand and Khiva. She was the first British woman to visit Khiva. [2]
In 1914, she visited the United States and Cuba. [2] While she was in the United States, she visited her American cousin, Miss Katherine M. Hill of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who was also a maiden lady.
Christie kept an account of her travels in her diaries and she was in regular correspondence with her sister. She later wrote about her trips to the Russian Empire in the book Through Khiva to golden Samarkand. [2] [3] [4]
In 1916, Christie travelled to France to become the manager of the L'Oeuvre de la Goutte de Café at Bar-sur-Aube. This network of cafés was established by the French and British Red Cross as places for tired soldiers to relax and rest. [5] The café that Christie managed was staffed by five Scottish women and served the soldiers fighting at the Battle of Verdun. From 1918 to 1919 Christie oversaw another 'LOuevre de la Goutte de Café at Mulhouse. [3]
After her visit to Japan in 1907 Christie was inspired to create a 7 acres (2.8 ha) Japanese garden at her home at Cowden Castle. She employed Taki Handi, from the Royal School of Garden Design in Nagoya, to help plan and design the garden. The burn on the estate was dammed and a hollow made to create an artificial loch. A pond and island garden was developed along with a stroll garden and a tea-house garden. Plants, shrubs, trees and a traditional stone lantern were imported from Japan. The garden was named Shāh-raku-en meaning a place of pleasure or delight. [2] [4] [6] [7]
Christie was advised on the form, maintenance and development of the garden by Professor Jijo Soya Suzuki, Master of the Soami School of Imperial Design. Suzuki considered the garden to the best Japanese garden in the Western world. Shinzaburo Matsuo lived and worked at Cowden as gardener from 1925 until his death in 1937. Queen Mary visited the garden in the late 1930s. [8] [9]
After Christie's death in 1949 the garden was maintained by workers on the Cowden estate. In 1963 it was vandalised and the tea-houses and bridges were burned, and the lanterns and shrines knocked into the loch. [6]
In 2014 Christie's great great niece Sara Stewart started a fundraising campaign to raise £1,000,000 to restore the garden. [4] [6] [7] The garden opened in 2019. [10]
Christie was a fellow Royal Geographical Society of Scotland, she was a Member of Council and in November 1934 she became a vice-president of the Society. [11] [12] She was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. [2]
On 15 January 1913 the Royal Geographical Society voted to allow women to be elected members of the Society. On 10 February 1913 Christie was in the first cohort of women to be elected Fellows. [13]
Christie died of leukemia on the 29 January 1949 at Strathearn Road, Edinburgh. [2] [6]
She is buried in the Christie family plot at Muckhart churchyard, east of Cowden. Her gardener Matsuo lies just to the south. [14]
Christie authored and co-authored several books about her travels, two of which she wrote with her sister, Alice. [15]
Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825. It is a Category A Listed Building and the estate is listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are located in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, 15 miles (24 km) west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although maintained after Scotland's monarchs left for England in 1603, the palace was little used, and was burned out in 1746. It is now a visitor attraction in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.
Kildrummy Castle is a ruined castle near Kildrummy, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Though ruined, it is one of the most extensive castles dating from the 13th century to survive in eastern Scotland, and was the seat of the Earls of Mar. It is owned today by Historic Environment Scotland and is open to the public as a scheduled ancient monument with gardens that are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Isabella Lucy Bishop was an English explorer, writer, photographer and naturalist. Alongside fellow Englishwoman Fanny Jane Butler, she founded the John Bishop Memorial Hospital in Srinagar in modern-day Kashmir. She was also the first woman to be elected as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Cynthia Evelyn Longfield was an Anglo-Irish entomologist and explorer and the first woman member of the Entomological Society. She was an expert on the dragonfly and was nicknamed "Madame Dragonfly". She travelled extensively and published The Dragonflies of the British Isles in 1937. She worked as a research associate at the Natural History Museum, London, and was the expert on the dragonflies there, particularly on African species.
Brechin Castle is a castle in Brechin, Angus, Scotland. The castle was constructed in stone during the 13th century. Most of the current building dates to the early 18th century, when extensive reconstruction was carried out by architect Alexander Edward for James Maule, 4th Earl of Panmure, between approximately 1696 and 1709. The castle is a 37,748 square feet (3,506.9 m2) Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is three miles (4.8 km) south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. The Preston family of Craigmillar, the local feudal barons, began building the castle in the late 14th century and building works continued through the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1660, the castle was sold to Sir John Gilmour, Lord President of the Court of Session, who breathed new life into the ageing castle. The Gilmours left Craigmillar in the 18th century for a more modern residence, nearby Inch House, and the castle fell into ruin. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument, and is open to the public.
Muckhart commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around 3 miles northeast of Dollar. The Gaelic name, Muc-àird, comes from muc ("pig") + àird ("height"), and may derive from the fact that the surrounding fields may once have been used for pig farming.
Fingask Castle is a country house in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is perched 200 feet (61 m) above Rait, three miles (5 km) north-east of Errol, in the Braes of the Carse, on the fringes of the Sidlaw Hills. Thus it overlooks both the Carse of Gowrie and the Firth of Tay and beyond into the Kingdom of Fife. The name derives from Gaelic fionn-gasg: a white or light-coloured appendage.
Murdostoun is an estate in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, which includes a castle, which lies on the South Calder Water near the village of Bonkle in the parish of Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The name Murdostoun was derived from the words Murthock and Toun which meant dwelling of Murthock. Murdostoun can refer to the ancient barony of the Scott and then the Inglis clan, the castle built by the Scotts or a bridge over the South Calder Water.
Anne Hamilton, Countess of Huntly, was a Scottish noblewoman and a member of the powerful Hamilton family which had a strong claim to the Scottish crown. Her father James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault, 2nd Earl of Arran was heir presumptive to the throne of Scotland after Mary, Queen of Scots prior to the birth of the latter's son Prince James in 1566. Anne was the wife of George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly, Lord Chancellor of Scotland and a chief conspirator during the reign of Queen Mary.
Kinneil House is a historic house to the west of Bo'ness in east-central Scotland. It was once the principal seat of the Hamilton family in the east of Scotland. The house was saved from demolition in 1936 when 16th-century mural paintings were discovered, and it is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. The house now consists of a symmetrical mansion built in 1677 on the remains of an earlier 16th- or 15th-century tower house, with two rows of gunloops for early cannon still visible. A smaller east wing, of the mid 16th century, contains the two painted rooms. The house is protected as a Category A listed building.
Isobel Wylie Hutchison was a Scottish Arctic traveller, filmmaker and botanist. Hutchison published poetry, books describing her travels to Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands, and articles in National Geographic and other magazines. She lectured frequently, using her films, photographs and paintings to illustrate her talks. Her papers were gifted to the National Library of Scotland by her long-time friend Medina Lewis.
John Christie FRSE (1824-1902) was a Scottish industrialist, arboriculturalist and landowner.
Newhailes House is a Palladian style country house which stands in 80 acres of parkland on the edge of the small town of Musselburgh in East Lothian, Scotland. Originally named Whitehills, it is a Category A listed building which is now occupied and maintained by the National Trust for Scotland.
Mary (Dudley) Sutton, Countess of Home (1586–1644), was a landowner, living in England and Scotland.
Marie Stewart, Countess of Mar (1576-1644) was a Scottish courtier. She was the daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox and Catherine de Balsac d’Entragues (d. c.1631) and a favourite of James VI of Scotland. After her marriage, as was customary in Scotland, she did not change her name, and signed her letters as "Marie Stewart".
Henrietta Stewart (1573–1642) was a Scottish courtier. She was the influential favourite of the queen of Scotland, Anne of Denmark.
Taki Handa (1871–1956) was a Japanese horticulturist, best known for designing and directing the construction of a Japanese garden in Scotland in 1908.
Colonel Sir Robert "Bobby" Christie Stewart KCVO CBE TD was a Scottish landowner who had a military career in the British Army and was a Lord Lieutenant of two counties in Scotland. He was generally referred to in the community as R. C. Stewart.