06 June 2006
Tomorrow marks the 175th anniversary of the birth of Amelia Blandford Edwards, a remarkable Victorian writer, traveller and pioneer in Egytology, who came to settle in Westbury-on-Trym. With a play about her life being performed tomorrow and a new biography due out soon, Theresa Roche takes a look at her remarkable life.
AN UNUSUAL tombstone in the shape of an Egyptian obelisk which stands in Henbury churchyard marks the final resting place of Amelia Blandford Edwards, a Victorian novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist. Born in London in June 1831, during the reign of King William IV, she was an only child who never attended school but was educated at home by her mother. Her first story was published when she was only 12. Later, as a young adult, she contributed numerous articles to magazines and newspapers as well as publishing three full-length novels. One of these, bravely for those times and especially for a female author, dealt with the subject of bigamy.
It is a little known fact that she was also one of the best ghost story writers of the Victorian age. Amelia became well known for her best-selling book A 1,000 Miles Up the Nile - published 1876 - for which she achieved widespread acclaim. An intrepid traveller, she toured Egypt in the winter of 1873-1874. Along with some companions, she sailed up the Nile in a luxury boat called a 'dahabeeyah' which contained comfortably-furnished cabins and was manned by a full crew and team of catering staff. Amelia was not afraid of 'roughing it' though, as prior to this venture she and her friend Lucy Renshawe had travelled by foot and by horse across the rugged Dolomite mountains in Northern Italy.
A dip into her travel book reveals a great sense of humour. A camel, she says, 'cherishes a strong personal antipathy to its rider. You know he hates you from the moment you first walk around him. He swears freely while you are taking your seat ... Should you persevere he bites your feet'. Amelia's book reveals the life-changing impact Egypt had upon her. Appalled by the removal and destruction of Egyptian artwork, she then devoted the rest of her life to the conservation of that country's ancient monuments. She was esteemed in academic circles as a pioneer in the use of correct techniques in archaeological excavations. She herself led an excavation - and had the site named after her. In 1882, Amelia founded the Egypt Exploration Fund which liaised with the Egyptian government to make sure that archaeological digs were carried out in a properly controlled fashion.
Bristol Museum was itself one of the subscribers to this fund. Although she was once engaged to be married, Amelia broke it off and, in 1864, made her home in Westbury-on-Trym. She died of influenza in April 1892. In her will she left money for the creation of the UK's first Chair of Egyptology at University College, London. Her personal collection of antiquities was also bequeathed to the university but today have a home in the Petrie Museum in London. Amelia Blandford Edwards was an amazing and pioneering lady, way ahead of her time and, fittingly, in this 175th anniversary of her birth, a play is being written about her extraordinary life. No doubt she would be delighted to hear that Bristol Museum is currently redesigning its Egyptology section ready for viewing next spring. If you want to see the new play about Amelia Edwards, called Hers Was The Earth... it's being performed tomorrow evening at Blaise Castle House Museum.
Well-known local actress Kim Hicks, who will also be talking to visitors in the afternoon, will be taking on the role of the Egyptologist. The show is being promoted by Bristol Magpies - the Bristol Museum support group who make donations to the Egypt Exploration Society.
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