Margaret Fountaine
Encyclopedia
Margaret Elizabeth Fountaine (16 May 1862 Norwich
- 21 April 1940 Trinidad
), a Victorian lepidopterist and diarist, was born in Norfolk
, the eldest of seven children of an English country clergyman, Reverend John Fountaine of South Acre
parish in East Anglia
. John Fountaine had married Mary Isabella Lee (died 4 July 1906) on 19 January 1860 - she was the daughter of Reverend Daniel Henry Lee-Warner of Walsingham Abbey
in Norfolk.
She was an accomplished natural history illustrator and had a great love and knowledge of butterflies
, travelling and collecting extensively through Europe
, South Africa
, India
, Tibet
, America
, Australia
and the West Indies, publishing numerous papers on her work. She raised many of the butterflies from eggs or caterpillars, producing specimens of great quality, 22,000 of which are housed at the Norwich Castle Museum and known as the Fountaine-Neimy Collection. Her four sketch books of butterfly life-cycles are held at the Natural History Museum
in London
.
Living in Norwich, where they had moved after her father's death on 25 December 1877, with a domineering and conservative mother, Margaret made use of every opportunity to escape the close confines of home. From the date of her coming of age, she showed a remarkable love of travel and, much to the alarm of her family, an inclination to form relationships with unsuitable men.
At the age of 27, Margaret and her sisters became financially independent, having inherited a considerable sum of money from her father’s brother - Margaret's parents were both from affluent families. She had in 1883, at age 21, become infatuated with Septimus Hewson, a young Irishman and chorister at the Norwich Cathedral
. He had been tardy in returning her affection, despite their meeting in Dublin in 1890 following his dismissal from Norwich Cathedral for immoderate drinking. When it became clear that no marriage would ensue, Margaret felt that there had been an understanding between them and that she had been ill-used.
She spent a few days visiting the noted botanist and entomologist Henry John Elwes
in 1895, and was inspired to start her own serious collection, leading to her first collecting trip to Sicily
.
The arrival of the modern bicycle
gave her a newfound freedom, and saw her cycling in France in 1897, and a year later accompanied by her sister Rachel on a cycling holiday through Italy.
When she visited Damascus
for the first time in 1901, she met Khalil Neimy whom she employed as a dragoman
(guide and translator). Neimy was a Greek Orthodox Syrian, born of Greek parents in Cairo
on 15 July 1877, who had received an education at the hands of American missionaries and had lived in Wisconsin
for four years. He subsequently became her constant and helpful companion, despite its soon becoming apparent that he had a wife in Damascus. Thus started an affectionate relationship which would survive 27 years of turbulence, ending only with Khalil’s death from fever on 7 July 1928. Their quest for butterflies led them to Algeria
, Spain
, the Caribbean
, Central America
, the Near East
, the Far East
, Turkey
, India
, the USA, Fiji
, New Zealand
, East
and West Africa
, and the rainforest of Queensland
in Australia, where they spent the years between 1914 and 1917.
Margaret attended the Second International Congress of Entomology held in Oxford
in 1912 and took Khalil along, since he was her collaborator and deserved to be recognised - to her great delight, he was made to feel welcome by all.
In 1940, at the age of 78, she died, while collecting, of a heart attack on the slopes of Mount St. Benedict
in Trinidad. She was buried in an unmarked grave at Brookwood Cemetery on Trinidad. She had covered immense distances in her travels, by air, sea, rail, road, on horseback and by foot. She was a fearless air traveller, flying from Havana
to Santiago
in 1931, fortified by sips of brandy - an essential part of her travel gear. Her unquenchable spirit enabled her to enjoy the company of a gang of bandits on a Corsica
n mountainside or speeding along a road in Tenerife
crammed into an ancient car with eight young Spaniards.
"Before presenting this – the Story of my Life – to those, whoever they may be, one hundred years from the date on which it was first commenced to be written, i.e. April 15: 1878, I feel it incumbent upon me to offer some sort of apology for much that is recorded therein, especially during the first few years, when (I was barely 16 at the time it was begun) I naturally passed through a rather profitless and foolish period of life, such as was and no doubt is still, prevalent amongst very young girls, though perhaps more so then – a hundred years ago, when the education of women was so shamelessly neglected, leaving the uninitiated female to commence life with all the yearnings of nature quite unexplained to her, and the follies and foibles of youth only too ready to enter the hitherto unoccupied and possibly imaginative brain.
Some writer has said (I think it is Bulmer Lytton) that “a woman’s whole life is a history of the affections – the heart is her world.” And indeed, there is alas! much that is only too true in this statement, for are not these loves, so fondly cherished and so dearly clung to, often merely as it were so many gates leading on, through paths of sorrow, to ultimate disaster and final loss?
The greatest passion, and perhaps the most noble love of my life was no doubt for Septimus Hewson, and the blow I received from his heartless conduct left a scar upon my heart, which no length of time ever quite effaced.
For Charles Neimy, whose love and friendship for me endured for a period of no less than 27 years, ending only with his death, I felt a deep devotion and true affection; and certainly the most interesting part of my life was spent with him. The dear companion – the constant and untiring friend and assistant in our Entomological work, travelling as we did together over all the loveliest, the wildest and often the loneliest places of this most beautiful Earth, while the roving spirit and love of the wilderness drew us closely together in a bond of union in spite of our widely different spheres of life, race and individuality in a way that was often quite inexplicable to most of those who knew us.
To the Reader - maybe yet unborn – I leave this record of the wild and fearless life of one of the “South Acre Children”, who never ‘grew up’ - & who enjoyed greatly and suffered much. - M. E. Fountaine"
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
- 21 April 1940 Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
), a Victorian lepidopterist and diarist, was born in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, the eldest of seven children of an English country clergyman, Reverend John Fountaine of South Acre
South Acre
South Acre is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village has almost disappeared, but the remnants are located about south-west of Castle Acre, north of the town of Swaffham, east of the town of King's Lynn and west of the city of Norwich...
parish in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
. John Fountaine had married Mary Isabella Lee (died 4 July 1906) on 19 January 1860 - she was the daughter of Reverend Daniel Henry Lee-Warner of Walsingham Abbey
Walsingham
Walsingham is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village is famed for its religious shrines in honour of the Virgin Mary and as a major pilgrimage centre...
in Norfolk.
She was an accomplished natural history illustrator and had a great love and knowledge of butterflies
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
, travelling and collecting extensively through Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, America
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the West Indies, publishing numerous papers on her work. She raised many of the butterflies from eggs or caterpillars, producing specimens of great quality, 22,000 of which are housed at the Norwich Castle Museum and known as the Fountaine-Neimy Collection. Her four sketch books of butterfly life-cycles are held at the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Biography
Margaret Fountaine was an exceptionally courageous and talented woman who travelled the world, collecting in sixty countries on six continents over fifty years, and became an expert in tropical butterfly life-cycles, while coping with an extremely complex emotional life. Her diaries were unsealed, as stipulated by her, in 1978, 100 years after she had started recording the details of her life. She filled twelve large volumes of leather-bound books with some 3203 pages and more than a million words, displaying a blend of Victorian reserve and startling candour, beginning each year on 15 April with a studio photograph of herself.. 15 April was reserved as her special day by the family, a day with favours shown, but no presents given.Living in Norwich, where they had moved after her father's death on 25 December 1877, with a domineering and conservative mother, Margaret made use of every opportunity to escape the close confines of home. From the date of her coming of age, she showed a remarkable love of travel and, much to the alarm of her family, an inclination to form relationships with unsuitable men.
At the age of 27, Margaret and her sisters became financially independent, having inherited a considerable sum of money from her father’s brother - Margaret's parents were both from affluent families. She had in 1883, at age 21, become infatuated with Septimus Hewson, a young Irishman and chorister at the Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral is a cathedral located in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Formerly a Catholic church, it has belonged to the Church of England since the English Reformation....
. He had been tardy in returning her affection, despite their meeting in Dublin in 1890 following his dismissal from Norwich Cathedral for immoderate drinking. When it became clear that no marriage would ensue, Margaret felt that there had been an understanding between them and that she had been ill-used.
She spent a few days visiting the noted botanist and entomologist Henry John Elwes
Henry John Elwes
Henry John Elwes, FRS was a British botanist, entomologist, author, lepidopterist, naturalist, collector and traveller who became renowned for collecting specimens of lilies during trips to the Himalayas and Korea. He was the first person to receive the Victoria Medal of the Royal Horticultural...
in 1895, and was inspired to start her own serious collection, leading to her first collecting trip to Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
.
The arrival of the modern bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
gave her a newfound freedom, and saw her cycling in France in 1897, and a year later accompanied by her sister Rachel on a cycling holiday through Italy.
When she visited Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
for the first time in 1901, she met Khalil Neimy whom she employed as a dragoman
Dragoman
A dragoman was an interpreter, translator and official guide between Turkish, Arabic, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts...
(guide and translator). Neimy was a Greek Orthodox Syrian, born of Greek parents in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
on 15 July 1877, who had received an education at the hands of American missionaries and had lived in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
for four years. He subsequently became her constant and helpful companion, despite its soon becoming apparent that he had a wife in Damascus. Thus started an affectionate relationship which would survive 27 years of turbulence, ending only with Khalil’s death from fever on 7 July 1928. Their quest for butterflies led them to Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, the Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the USA, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, East
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
, and the rainforest of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
in Australia, where they spent the years between 1914 and 1917.
Margaret attended the Second International Congress of Entomology held in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in 1912 and took Khalil along, since he was her collaborator and deserved to be recognised - to her great delight, he was made to feel welcome by all.
In 1940, at the age of 78, she died, while collecting, of a heart attack on the slopes of Mount St. Benedict
Mount Saint Benedict
Mount Saint Benedict, or the Abbey of Our Lady of Exile, is a Benedictine abbey located in north Trinidad. It was founded in October 1912, by an order of monks from Brazil, after the Order of St Benedict of Italy...
in Trinidad. She was buried in an unmarked grave at Brookwood Cemetery on Trinidad. She had covered immense distances in her travels, by air, sea, rail, road, on horseback and by foot. She was a fearless air traveller, flying from Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
to Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
in 1931, fortified by sips of brandy - an essential part of her travel gear. Her unquenchable spirit enabled her to enjoy the company of a gang of bandits on a Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
n mountainside or speeding along a road in Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
crammed into an ancient car with eight young Spaniards.
Diaries
A note that accompanied her diaries, reads:"Before presenting this – the Story of my Life – to those, whoever they may be, one hundred years from the date on which it was first commenced to be written, i.e. April 15: 1878, I feel it incumbent upon me to offer some sort of apology for much that is recorded therein, especially during the first few years, when (I was barely 16 at the time it was begun) I naturally passed through a rather profitless and foolish period of life, such as was and no doubt is still, prevalent amongst very young girls, though perhaps more so then – a hundred years ago, when the education of women was so shamelessly neglected, leaving the uninitiated female to commence life with all the yearnings of nature quite unexplained to her, and the follies and foibles of youth only too ready to enter the hitherto unoccupied and possibly imaginative brain.
Some writer has said (I think it is Bulmer Lytton) that “a woman’s whole life is a history of the affections – the heart is her world.” And indeed, there is alas! much that is only too true in this statement, for are not these loves, so fondly cherished and so dearly clung to, often merely as it were so many gates leading on, through paths of sorrow, to ultimate disaster and final loss?
The greatest passion, and perhaps the most noble love of my life was no doubt for Septimus Hewson, and the blow I received from his heartless conduct left a scar upon my heart, which no length of time ever quite effaced.
For Charles Neimy, whose love and friendship for me endured for a period of no less than 27 years, ending only with his death, I felt a deep devotion and true affection; and certainly the most interesting part of my life was spent with him. The dear companion – the constant and untiring friend and assistant in our Entomological work, travelling as we did together over all the loveliest, the wildest and often the loneliest places of this most beautiful Earth, while the roving spirit and love of the wilderness drew us closely together in a bond of union in spite of our widely different spheres of life, race and individuality in a way that was often quite inexplicable to most of those who knew us.
To the Reader - maybe yet unborn – I leave this record of the wild and fearless life of one of the “South Acre Children”, who never ‘grew up’ - & who enjoyed greatly and suffered much. - M. E. Fountaine"