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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780772673084 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The Royal British Columbia Museum |
| Publication date: | 05/17/2019 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 264 |
| File size: | 21 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
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CHAPTER 1
Early Years
Sarah was born 30 November 1826 at Acton Green, Middlesex, near London, England, the eldest daughter of Sarah (née Freestone) and Dr. John Lindley. Sarah had an older brother, George (1824–1831), and younger siblings Nathaniel (1828–1921) and Barbara (1830–1901). The surviving children received the nicknames Totty for Sarah, Natty for Nathaniel, and Dunny for Barbara, which they retained for their lifetimes.
Dr. John Lindley (1799–1865) was a distinguished botanist and horticulturalist, fellow of the Royal Society and professor at London University. He had an impressive career. In 1820 he was elected fellow of both the Linnean and Geological societies and two years later was appointed garden assistant secretary to the Horticultural Society. By the time of his marriage in 1823, Lindley had published seven major horticultural works. In 1826, he became the sole assistant secretary of the Horticultural Society, with duties in both the gardens at Chiswick and in the office at Regent Street. At this point the Lindley family moved from London to Acton, near Chiswick. In 1829, Lindley became the first professor of botany at the University of London, a position he retained for 30 years. In conjunction with his friend George Bentham, he organized a very successful series of exhibitions of flowers and fruit in the gardens at Chiswick. After becoming vice-secretary of the Horticultural Society in 1841, Lindley assumed an incredible workload, which he managed until 1858 when he became honorary secretary. Lindley acted as juror of foodstuffs in the International Exhibition of 1851 and resigned from the Horticultural Society in 1862, after being persuaded to take charge of the entire colonial department of the 1862 International Exhibition. Always overworked, Lindley died in 1865 from a "softening of the brain." Sarah described her father as:
a great reader of both French and English literature and [he also] understood a little German. He was a kind father to his children — and spent much on their education although his two daughters never did justice to his liberality much to their own regret — but this was not the case with his surviving son, Nathaniel. ... My father was an excellent conversational host when at all interested in his guests — but he always avoided the subjects of music and religion. Music because he had no taste for it and religion because he thought little of its church officers and professions. ... My father was nominally a member of the Church of Eng[lan]d but made no profession of religion. He was extremely punctual in his engagements and declared he would not wait more than 3 minutes for anybody!
The Lindley household was immeasurably affected by Lindley's work and preoccupations. Lindley's close friends included Joseph Paxton, George Bentham, Joseph Hooker and other leading botanists of the day. Sarah's friends when she was a girl included daughters of these famous men. In later years, some of these men were to prove helpful to her and her husband. Also living at the Lindley house was Sarah A. Drake (1804–1857), who was employed by John Lindley as illustrator of his horticultural publications. Miss Drake, in Sarah's words, was "the best botanical draftswoman of her day — not excepting Mrs. Withers who was unrivaled in fruit painting." "Ducky," as she was affectionately known, "was greatly beloved by my mother, sister and self." She lived with the family, and in fact was almost like one of the family for many years, until her marriage in 1847.
Sarah's girlhood was carefree. The family home at Turnham Green was nestled in a landscape setting worthy of a botanist of John Lindley's stature. The grounds comprised several acres, which included a semicircular carriageway in the front of the house, curving through large trees and formal gardens. Kitchen and vegetable plots faced the rear of the house, with a wide expanse of grass leading towards a less structured, wilder garden through which winding pathways led to secluded benches and secret play areas. This was Dunnyland, a special place for all the Lindley children. Beyond its fences lay 170 acres of Acton Common. It was a wonderful place for children growing up. They ran wild among the trees and shrubs, practising archery and playing all manner of imaginary games. The children were carefree and affectionate siblings, the very best of friends. The banter of childhood games, the teasing and the intimacy, remained with them as adults, ever recalling the fun and frolic of their youth.
Sarah's formal education was typical of the day. In upper-middle-class households, girls were taught domestic skills by their mother, but a governess was also employed to give girls more formal instruction. This was often interspersed with terms at a private school, either as a day pupil or as a boarder. A typical prospectus for a ladies' academy or finishing school announces: "the strictest attention is paid to [the girls'] morals, and care taken that amusement should be blended with tuition." Sarah and her sister, Barbara, attended such a school. They were registered as day pupils from 1838 to 1842 at Mrs. Gee's school at Hendon, near Turnham Green. Here they were taught the usual skills for women, including reading, writing, literature, art and music. After leaving the school, the girls had a private governess, a Miss Emma Heinrich, whom Totty described as "our German &French weekly governess, at home ... an interesting person and very charming when pleased."
A highlight of Sarah's girlhood, one which she recalled often in later life, occurred on 28 June 1838, at the age of 11. Sarah, in company with her father (who had been invited in his capacity as advisor to the British government on the status of Kew Gardens), was present in Westminster Abbey at the coronation of Queen Victoria. Although diaries from this period are not extant, the scene made a great impression. "She often spoke of the touching youthfulness of the young Queen, her simple dignity, and also the fact that just as the Crown was placed on her head and the Peers & Peeresses lifted their coronets to theirs, a ray of sunshine struck them making a wonderful and sudden radiance."
Sarah's major recreational pursuit appears to have been art. Both she and her sister were given lessons by Charles Fox (1794–1849), an old friend and colleague of John Lindley. He "taught us all drawing by way of a personal favour — as he was by profession an engraver." When Lindley was appointed superintendent of the Horticultural Society, Fox, because of his great interest in horticulture and his reputation as one of the best authorities on flowers, was chosen as judge and arbiter of their exhibitions. Fox also superintended the illustrations of The Florist. He remained a close family friend until his death in 1849.
Charles Fox gave Sarah instruction in pencil and watercolour, the typical media for sketching, but also taught her copper engraving and woodblock printing. These latter two techniques were both rather unusual practices for middle-class women at this time. Generally women wished to learn only enough about sketching to maintain basic social competence, not to apply it in a more serious vein, although within the milieu of female family members of nineteenth century botanists, such skills were encouraged. Wives and daughters of John Lindley's contemporaries and predecessors were often so engaged. This was also one way in which women could participate in the study of botany yet remain in their separate sphere of domestic life. For Sarah, learning these techniques enabled her to translate her own sketches into a format that could be duplicated and was suitable for reproduction in illustrated journals or other such publications. Under the inspiration of Sarah Drake, Sarah's artistic interests were directed along these lines, and she became a skilled botanical illustrator and adapted her pen-and-ink sketches to woodblock or copperplate prints. In time, she and her sister assumed responsibility for the illustration of some of her father's later works, including The Vegetable Kingdom, 1846, and various articles in the Gardeners' Chronicle, which Lindley, Joseph Paxton and others had founded in 1841. Here the work of illustration was not merely a hobby. They received payment and it was viewed as a legitimate form of employment — and one that subsidized their pocket money. In this manner, the Lindley women were part of the "hidden investment" of the middle class. Botanical illustration, like other areas of women's work, was an economic enterprise that added value to family businesses or circumstances generally. Since you left, I have made several translations from the French for the Gar[deners'] Chron[icle]. I like the work decidedly better than any other of the useful kind. ... I have earnt a few pounds in that way which I find most acceptable, for money seems to slip away faster than ever, I buy nothing of any account & still my purse is always empty. Sarah often submitted botanical drawings, either for her father's work or for independent publication, under a pen name, perhaps wishing to be judged on her own skill rather than on associations with her father. The use of pen names, especially in the field of writing, was not uncommon among women at this time. Although Sarah's pen name was Esther Jones, many women used male pen names, perhaps increasing the chances that their submission would be accepted in the male-oriented business world.
"MY HEART'S FONDEST LOVE"
The man who would become Sarah's husband first appears on the scene in 1848. Henry Pering Pellew Crease was born on 20 August 1823 at his grandfather's home of Ince Castle, Cornwall. His father, Captain Henry Crease, was an officer in the Royal Navy, and his mother, Mary, was the daughter of Edward Smith. Henry was the eldest son and had ten siblings. He attended Mount Radford School and later Clare College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1846. He was a "Prizeman in Divinity ... an enthusiastic oarsman, and rowed his College boat 'The Lady Clare.' ... After leaving Cambridge he was, with Charles Mansfield, one of the first University men who devoted time to teaching in the Ragged Schools then started in London." In 1847 he travelled to the Continent and spent several months in Turkey and Asia Minor, then Italy and Switzerland. The trip was undertaken because of doctor's orders, as Henry suffered from a pulmonary infection. He returned to England and assisted his father in a number of legal matters, and he took up studies at Lincoln's Inn. Shortly after, he was admitted to the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple to study law. In June 1849 he was called to the degree of the Upper Bar, took his oaths and was sworn in as a barrister.
How Henry Crease met Sarah Lindley is obscured by time, but it may be that he was introduced to the family by Sarah's brother, Nathaniel, whom he met in Switzerland in 1847. Their mutual interest in the law cemented a friendship. (Nathaniel was called to the Bar in 1850.) Henry invited Natty to his family home in Cornwall during the late spring of 1848, while on a summer break from their law studies. No doubt the visit was reciprocated, because by August, correspondence reveals not only that Natty knew Henry's father and one of his brothers, but that Henry had evidently met part or all of the Lindley family, as Natty mentions "Barbara is still at Ramsgate." There is no mention of Sarah. Unfortunately we are not privy to the early part of the romance.
By the early fall of 1848, Sarah and Henry both recognized their attraction for each other, although there was certainly little opportunity to act upon it. Henry was a busy man. He "read for the Bar, ate his dinners at the Middle Temple, London ... resided at the famous old 'Albany' off Piccadilly ... served ... in the 'Special Police' who did duty in the streets of London during the Chartist Riots, armed with baton and cutlass." During this time he also "assisted his father in numerous lawsuits and bills in Parliament concerning the family estates in the Duchy of Cornwall." Somewhere between all these activities, Henry managed to maintain contact with Sarah, although befitting the time, a young lady would not communicate directly to a young man, or vice versa. No doubt visits to the Lindley home were orchestrated by Nathaniel. Sarah and Henry shared a passion for art, and it was this bond that first attracted Sarah to him. She wrote: "you know how I have told you before, that I fell in love with your drawings, (the coloured ones in those days). I read in them a character which I was sure I could not help loving. They were free, bold, and manly, with a tenderness and refinement which quickly found a way to my heart and made one think that he who executed them had a soul which I could deeply love and honour...."
Finances were in a tight way for the Crease family at this time. For several generations the Crease and Smith families acted as representatives for the Duchy of Cornwall in activities related to tin mining. The duchy controlled the underground resources yet allowed private concerns to lease land and mine tin, paying a royalty to the duchy. Henry's family worked for the duchy ensuring that these commercial concerns paid the appropriate royalties and did not mine without permission. Exploitation of the duchy's resources by unauthorized ventures was rampant, and it was a confrontational responsibility to administer. The family expended its own capital to pursue legal cases against interlopers. Reimbursement from the duchy over the years was negligible. It was an awkward situation, defending the rights of the duchy without the ability to reclaim costs. This situation began during the tenure of Henry's grandfather, and over time contributed to great losses in the family fortunes. The family, Henry's sister Julia recalled, "at one time possessed 44 manors in Cornwall and Devon but all were sold and lawsuits further impoverished the family and more over alienated all or nearly all, the County families — a result much deplored by various members of the family...." Finally, Ince Castle was lost.
During 1848 and 1849 Henry, with his knowledge of the law, assisted his father in several of these legal cases. The troublesome situation with the mines reached a crisis at this time, and finally Captain Crease was left with only his small naval pension on which to support his family. For several years, Henry and his father had discussed potential emigration to another British territory, for surely such a move would open possibilities for alternate sources of income. In 1848 Captain Crease applied for the vacant position of "Lt. Governor of the Southern Islands off New Zealand." Henry wrote to a close friend: "He has for years been determined to emigrate and has determined to go this summer [1848] whether he receives this other appointment or not. ... without such an app[ointmen]t he w[oul]d go to Ca nada...." Despite his unfinished studies, Henry ventured: "[I am] thinking of going to colonies and taking as much of the family as I can." Australia, Capetown, India and even Vancouver Island were discussed. "Did you notice a letter in the 3rd page of Thursday's Times Headed — Vancouver Island...."
Between the two of them, Henry and his father sent letters of enquiry to friends and contacts within government in the hopes of securing a position. Henry wrote letters recommending his father for particular positions and citing his years managing tin mines as comparable experience. In his turn, Captain Crease enquired for details and further information on rumoured postings in India and Australia in the hopes of locating something suitable for his eldest son. Nothing materialized. It became obvious that Henry must complete his legal studies to be considered eligible or "employable" in a position suitable to his needs and expectations. As he wrote: " ... my first wish is to accompany my father and the family wherever they may go — as I am the eldest and to do that I must either be called or lose all the labour, money & anxiety & time already expended on my profession wh[ich] w[oul]d be a frightful sacrifice...."
During all this time, Henry visited the Lindleys. He and Sarah walked through the extensive gardens at Turnham Green, often with sketchpad and pencils. They had special, sentimental spots in Dunnyland. No doubt they lingered in its secluded corners and sat on the benches amid rambling rosebowers, azaleas and rhododendrons. The relationship blossomed.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Henry & Self"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Kathryn Bridge.
Excerpted by permission of Royal BC Museum.
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Table of Contents
Preface,
Introduction,
Early Years,
A Colonial Life,
Notes,
Sarah's 1880 Journal,
Bibliography,
Acknowledgements,
Illustrations,
Plates,