THE VICTORIAN ERA

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 139, 8 March 1941, Page 15

THE VICTORIAN ERA

Two Views Of Upper

Class Life “A Long Look At Life,” by Two Victorians, Lady King-Stewart and Ella R. Christie. (London: Seeley, Service). Books of reminiscences about the Victorian era have a very definite value in recording the history of the period, and all elderly folk in England now who have interesting anecdotes of 50odd years ago to tell should hasten to quiet spots in the midst of the English countryside where no bombs have fallen an'd their pre-world war experiences relate without delay. Soon it will be too late. So many old landmarks are already heaps of rubble. The scene is changing so swiftly, but with the destruction of old buildings and the burial of old traditions has come an intensified regard for things English an'd this should offer an almost unlimited public for books which tell of the way our grandfathers lived in England. Lady King-Stewart and her sister, Miss Ella R. Christie spent their childhood at Cowden Castle, Perthshire, in an atmosphere of servants, governesses and eiderdown petticoats. They had privileges which do not fall to many, travelled in the Europe of last century as part of their education and throughout their long and interesting lives have met many who were destined to make history. The book is full of anecdote touching every aspect of the life lived by the upper classes of their day. They show themselves as cultured and charming women. Miss Ella Christie became an intrepid traveller, with her equally intrepid maid Humphries, while Lady King-Stewart devoted much time to philanthropic works. They belong to the protected order of British women, but one feels that each, time and place permitting, would be the equal of the many younger women in Britain now who are fulfilling arduous tasks which require courage and endurance.