Goddess Reiki

Goddess Reiki has recently been given an assortment of labels which practitioners use to describe the healing energies of Our Sacred Mother of 10,000 names.
Within the Fellowship of Isis we refer to the term as ‘Isian Healing Rays’ whereby we receive the Goddess given energies which transmute situations requiring healing.

Just about every conceivable human condition & affliction can be transmuted by My Lady of All Magic & Healing whom I call Isis. Within my Reiki practices I also call upon her in her aspects of Green Tara who presides over what is known as the violet
flame Reiki .
Personally I also resonate with Sekhmet the lioness headed goddess of healing, one of her forms of Reiki is known as‘Sekhem’.
Although she is The Goddess of 10,000 names and her other reflective aspects resonate more with some people than others do, each of us must find our own relationship with whichever goddess we are drawn to work with.
Healing may occur whereby an old problem (including physical ailments & emotional conditions) are healed in an unexpected way and a new resolve is found that had not presented its self before.
Perhaps for example we find a new way to continue with the same pain which minimises its impact on us, or a new nutrition regime may hold the key to bodily imbalances or maybe a remedy that had not been thought of before suddenly comes to light.
Miracle cures do occur with Reiki healing although there are no guarantees that a particular ailment be totally cured but what most practitioners will agree on is that the recipient of healing energies will receive some benefit or other from it, even a terminal illness may be treated not as a cure but to bring a peaceful transition from one life into the next.

The Healing rays of the Goddess are natural and spontaneous and can not be controlled by anyone, although we may channel them as Reiki practitioners to where they are most needed guided by Isis.
Recipients of the Isian Healing Rays don’t always benefit immediately from the rays that are given to them although many do feel an instant effect which is very pleasant & energising. For others though it is as if the healing rays of Isis have a job that takes more time to work on a number of levels which may be spiritual, emotional & physical. Each experience is personal and unique.

Sometimes healing is not to do with a ‘cure’ of an ailment but about a whole fresh new perspective on the malaise itself and what has bought us to where we are at that time.
If we’re experiencing the same old pains over & over again then obviously some message is being overlooked that we may not have been able to see before.

Stress eventually takes its toll manifesting as some physical ailment or other which is the bodies response to our emotional being – in other words we’re being given a clear message to stop or move on from a situation that has caused the pain in the first place.

In the book ‘You Can Heal Your Life’ is a wonderful list of physical ailments which the healing author ‘Louise Hay’ presents to understand the underlying psychic reasons behind them.
It’s quite a comprehensive list and covers just about every illness imaginable,
Next to it she gives the psychic/emotional reasoning such as, for example:

Pain in the shoulders is to do with feeling tremendously overburdened & put up on, as if you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.
Stomach problems may be related to not being to literally stomach a situation you may find yourself in, perhaps you hate your job or home life & may be experiencing constant tummy upsets of one sort or another.

By applying the list to personal situations it really does make sense to work with to gain some further insights.

Reiki symbols have been veiled in secrecy in the past but now they are becoming public knowledge thanks to individuals who wish for the symbols to be freely available to all.
Symbols are wonderful to work with they are quite literally the symbolic language of the universe. Try experimenting yourself with them.

Try visualizing spinning upon your out stretched hands (palms up) the figure eight ‘8’ lying on its side in blue light (see image below), you should at the very least feel a sort of energised tickling sensation, with its energy continually flowing it is the symbol we find in the Tarot card ‘The Magician’
The Magician is all about ‘transformation’ and ‘alchemy’ using his intentions to bring about a change in circumstances.
It is an ancient symbol of infinity, without beginning and without end; its free flowing energy continues and is a good energetic symbol to use in Reiki to kick starts a flow of healing rays if you humbly request that the goddess turns on and makes this energy available to you.

Lets face it Reiki has become a huge money spinner for some people who insist that Reiki may only be practiced in a certain way which will be given once you hand
over X amount of cash.
Although I do believe in a fair exchange of energy for someone offering tuition, be that monetary or some other arranged equivalent which is fair for the service offered. I don’t however feel that the extortionate fee’s advertised by ‘Reiki Masters’ can be justified and this wonderful free universal energy has been denied to many individuals who would like to learn the principles involved for themselves.
The following quote is from a wonderful website (the link is at the end of this article) offering free attunements to all:

“Reiki healers do NOT need certificates. You can heal even without these fancy embellishments hanging on your wall. Paper is only provided for those who must prove that they have acquired a certain degree of mastery”

In my own practice I first of all see an image of the winged Goddess Isis in my minds eye standing behind me, above her head she has a glowing spinning ball of energy (you can see this image of Isis in many ancient Egyptian relief paintings.)
Sometimes I ‘feel’ her feathery soft protective wings wrap around my body.
Next I visualize the sign of a spinning golden Ankh symbol above my head and then I feel the light of Isis radiating from her solar disc above her head and flooding down into my crown and then throughout my entire body.
The sensation is quite distinct; I can only describe it as sparkly silver rain for want of better words.
The next part is that she will guide me to direct her healing rays where they are most required, sometimes I will see colours and symbols to focus on, and the symbols are always 3d and often are spinning or moving. These she will instruct to be placed where needed.
For example for emotional healing I may use the ‘sei he kei’ symbol shown above in the level 2 reiki diagram. This I would see floating from Isis to me, through my hands and then down into the crown of the person receiving healing and then staying in the head area to work its magic if it was needed most their,.
It might continue as in some instances sinking lower to the heart chakra area if it is required more within that area or maybe even replicating itself to go to several places as required. The possibilities are endless.

We also may use Reiki on everything else that needs our help I’ve used it on computers, electrical equipment, even a blocked loo with miraculous results I might add, but always after using all of the logical methods first to resolve problems.
The goddess likes to see her children making an effort by helping themselves first, as do all good Mothers.
Any conceivable human situation can be assisted with healing energy including personal circumstances, animal/plants, family/community/global transformation.
Wherever we send our healing intentions & reiki symbols only good can come of it.




The healing itself is bestowed by the Goddess and this we must always remember and give thanks for; she is the source from where the energies flow & must eventually return.




Love & Hugs
Rosie
"Beannachd nas soilleir ort, agus air gach duine."
Brightest of blessings to you and all you hold dear.




www.psychicteachings.net/reikisymbols.htm



Great site filled with free attunements & working methods.
www.elementenergy.com/fusionreiki






Totally free attunements and fantastic free manuals to download

http://www.xtrememind.com/free-reiki.htm

Recollections of Egyptian Princesses

ELLEN CHENNELLS (Continued)

Not quite a thousand miles up the Nile...

How would it be best to classify Recollections of an Egyptian Princess? Despite its title it is about several things; Princess Zeynab and Kopsès, the Khedival Court, Egyptian society at a very important point in its history. To an extent, it is also about Ellen’s personal and career development; it must have been a really challenging and rewarding time of her life.

But most of all, it is a travel-book. Ellen took every opportunity to explore her surroundings, and so the book is, as much as anything, a description of Egypt, particularly Cairo, and Constantinople (Istanbul) during the 1870s. She was always ready, when her work allowed, to jump on a donkey, or other means of transport, and explore.

Like many other western women who went to Egypt she found independence. She was no longer bound by the restraints that 19th century society placed on women. For many this liberating experience was almost intoxicating.

Lucie Duff-Gordon

Until shortly before Ellen had arrived in Egypt, for instance, Lady Lucie Duff-Gordon had escaped from London society to live in a house built on part of Luxor Temple, where she had found complete fulfilment. Lucie was so bitterly critical of Ismail, and his economic policies, that he regarded her with enough suspicion to intercept her mail; there was even a (somewhat half-hearted) attempt on her life of the "make it look like an accident" kind.

A few years later, in 1877, Amelia Edwards was to take her famous "Thousand Mile" trip up the Nile, an experience which not only led her to write one of the classics of Eyptology, but to go on to help establish the Egypt Exploration Fund (now Society), which is still one of the foremost learned societies in British Egyptology.

Amelia Edwards

Florence Nightingale’s visit to Egypt in 1849-1850 was to lead to an intense spiritual experience, even having a vision in the Temple of Philae. (She was to write an essay titled "Visions of Temples", in which she related the various temples that she had seen to her spiritual ideas). Like so many other women at the time Miss Nightingale was desperately searching for some meaning in the trivialised life that so many women of her social class, and era, were forced to endure. And Egypt seems to have focused her thoughts; the following year she was to study nursing at Kaiserswerth, Germany, which was to lead on to the achievements for which she has become famous.

(Ellen’s own religious beliefs, by the way, do not seem to have been profound. She attended Anglican services as would have been expected of a governess of her time, and describes how she sat through some dreadfully boring sermons. As a governess she would of course have been expected to accept whichever religion her pupil of the time was being brought up in, and so no doubt on a professional level it would have been helpful to her not to have any very strong religious views of her own).

But back to Ellen’s experiences in Egypt.

Immediately after Bairam, Zeynab and Ibrahim, together with their companions Kopsès and Shefket (Ibrahim’s companion, a boy about two years older than him, who was described by Ellen as an "Abyssinian") and the educational staff were to take a trip up the Nile. However, the children had said so much about all the things they were going to see, that first the four Princesses and then Ismail himself decided to go – "our modest party swelled into a royal progress", Ellen wrote.

However, this was to in fact spoil the entire excursion. For a start, it lead to the trip being continually postponed, until Ismail was able to leave Cairo.

At first, thinking that only the children and educational staff would go, Ellen worried about the arrangements for washing sanitary towels, which were not, then, usually disposable, during the trip: "Bearing in mind the periodical cares of the laundry, which often made me seriously contemplate substituting paper for linen." (No doubt blotting-paper, or something like it, would have worked well enough in an emergency).

However, it’s not clear whose sanitary requirements Ellen was thinking of; possibly Zeynab’s and Kopsès’, who would have probably have reached their menarche at about this time, unless Ellen herself had a particularly late menopause.

Indeed, as a Victorian, putting cleanliness next to godliness, she was also worried about how the general laundry would be done. However, as things turned out, she would have done better thinking about food, rather than laundry.

The trip was postponed many times. As Ellen put it: "the cry of "wolf!" was repeated several times, on each occasion with less and less effect, until we began to disbelieve the whole affair." But finally, on 20 January 1872, the trip commenced, from Boulak, the river-port of Cairo.

A Khedival flotilla on the Nile, circa 1880s, perhaps showing some of the steamboats that accompanied Ellen and Zeynab's trip.

The royal fleet consisted of "six large steamers and seven dahabiehs [sailing houseboats]… had the number been only those originally proposed, we should all have been together in one steamboat, as was proper and consistent; but as it was, the larger vessels were taken up by his Highness, his harem, and his general suite, and the smallest steamer [called the Azaziah] was reserved for Ibrahim Pahsa and the Princess. When cabins had been allotted to them, to their two companions, Shefket and Kopsès, to the Princess’s French maid, and to Zohrab Bey [the harem physician] and his nephew, there was no room left for us."

A dahabieh (foreground) and a steamer of the 1870s

So, they were crammed on board a tiny dahabieh, that was towed behind the Azaziah. Right from the start they had difficulties with this:

"We had been told that everything would be prepared for us, so that we had nothing to provide except our own clothing. When we went on board… we found that nothing was ready for us… nothing but the barely furnished cabins." Fortunately they were able to hurry back to Choubrah Road, to get some furnishings from their house. (I can’t help but wonder what kind of monumental tantrum Emmeline Lott would have thrown at this point!)

The fleet set off, stopping first at the site of Memphis, and then crossing to Saqqara, where Mariette was busy at work in the Serapeum with his usual excavation tool, dynamite (see the post on Maggie Benson and Nettie Gourlay). They also visited the tombs of Ty and Ptah-hotep (in fact mastabas), both of which are a few hundred yards directly east of the Serapeum.

This was in fact an extremely bad time for Egyptian antiquities. Archaeological excavation was done by people who were no better than looters, temples were being destroyed to provide building-material for sugar-factories, and sebakh (fertiliser) diggers were removing the sites of ancient towns.

On the way back from Saqquara, Ellen’s donkey-boy thought that she would be impressed by his making the donkey – which he called the "Flying Dutchman" - gallop at high speed. The jolting made Ellen lose all her possessions, including her vital spectacles – which were, however, fortunately found by other members of the party following behind.

Zeynab and Ibrahim were taught on board the Azaziah. This meant the dahabieh being drawn alongside the steamer each morning, to allow the teaching staff to come on board it. The dahabieh was then pulled along behind, on a long rope, making reaching it impossible. This was bad enough if anyone wanted something from their cabins during the day, but was a major problem if anyone should be left marooned on board the dahabieh, as there they had nothing to eat or drink, all the food being kept on board the Azaziah. "Had we known to what we should have been exposed," Ellen wrote, "we would have brought with us some preserved meat in tins, some Huntley & Palmers biscuits, tea, coffee, and sugar, a [water] filter, and an Etna for boiling water."

In an attempt to industrialise Eypt, various Khedives had built large numbers of sugar-refineries (often from the stones of ancient temples). Despite their cost to Egyptian heritage, the refineries were not much of an economic success, as the party were soon to find out.

At el-Minya the fleet stopped so that Ismail could inspect a number of sugar-mills that he had built there. There was a palace at Minya, and a line of troops held sheets of cloth like two walls from the harem steamer to the palace, to "enable the wives of his Highness and their suite to disembark without being exposed to the gaze of men."

The stop was at first expected to take only two or three days, so that the Khedive could put the mills into working order. However, day after day was to pass without them continuing onwards.
So far during the trip Ellen had based her teaching on "history, and charming tales of fiction" (presumably to avoid the history becoming monotonous). The Khedive himself had wanted the childrens’ studies to be "exclusively devoted to the history of Eypt", and undoubtedly this would have been the perfect opportunity to teach Egyptian history; Ellen says that it was indeed her, and Mr. Freeland’s own plan.

Ellen lists the books that she taught this from: Mariette’s Aperçu de l’Histoire d’Egypt, and his Itinéraire. She also used a section called L’Egypte ancienne et moderne of a book called the Histoire universelle. In English they had Sharpe’s History of Egypt. They also had guides to contemporary Egypt.

To us, Mariette’s books show just what a limited grasp he actually had of Egyptian history, even by the standards of the time. Ellen described his version of it:

"Firstly came the Ancient Empire, the age of the pyramids, a period when the art of engraving on stones reached a perfection which has never since been attained. Then the Middle Empire, which was in existence when Abraham appeared, and to the last king of which Joseph was minister. Then came the New Empire, the age of Moses. In a voyage up the Nile the most frequent and glorious monuments belong to this epoch. Lastly, the Lower Empire, in which Egypt fell under the dominion of strangers, Greeks and Romans."

However, marooned at the palace at Minya for an increasing length of time, without anything to relate historical studies to, Ellen reverted back to teaching English one day, French the other.
She also organised games of rounders (the game known as base-ball in America) and hide and seek. At a time when physical activity for "young ladies" was still disapproved of in England, this was enlightened education! Still, she had to make allowances for Zeynab, whose "plumpness interfered rather with her speed."

Confined together in the palace at Minya, Ellen had an opportunity to get to know Kopsès better. "Kopsès", she wrote, "had great vivacity, and wonderful tact for one so young a person: she never intruded her opinions, but when required she expressed them with a free and independent bearing which to our preconceived ideas was totally inconsistent with slavery."

It was at Minya that Ellen unintentionally committed a breach of etiquette, asking Zeynab what her mother’s name was – so far, Ellen had only known her as the "Second Princess". Zeynab declined to answer, and to her great embarrassment Ellen learned that it was the height of bad manners to mention a woman’s name outside the harem.

Zeynab's mother, the "Second Princess" - Princess Jananyar

The men of the party amused themselves by slaughtering the local wildfowl, Ellen by watching dahabiehs sail up and down, each flying the national flag of the person who had hired it – people who were often indeed known to her. They all still looked forward to going further upstream, none more so than the teaching staff’s dragoman (interpreter and message-carrier), Shaheen. One of Shaheen’s wives lived above the First Cataract (at Aswan), and he had not seen her for many years. Despite this, it seems he had plans to take a third wife!

But in the end, whatever was wrong with the sugar-mills, not even the Khedive himself, it seemed, could put them into working order. (In fact Minya was instead to later become a centre of Egypt’s cotton-trade). And so after three weeks, the journey was abandoned. The teaching-staff were sent back to Cairo by special train – although when they arrived, no carriage was available to take them back to Choubrah Road, which resulted in some difficulty and ingenuity to reach home!


Life was, for the moment, to return to normal. But plans were being made for Zeynab’s marriage…

Recollections of Egyptian Princesses

ELLEN CHENNELLS (continued)

Ellen's life in Egypt begins

It is likely that Emmeline Lott’s very public criticisms of the Khedival family and its morals and educational provision had been very embarrassing to Ismael, who prided himself on abandoning the country’s “former ways”, and was to say, in 1879, that Egypt “is no longer in Africa; we are now part of Europe.”

Ellen must have at least been aware of Lott’s books, and indeed seems to have had some hesitation in going to Egypt: “I was anxious to obtain every possible information before undertaking the duty [as Zeynab’s governess].”

It is perhaps unfortunate that Lott arrived in Egypt at a time when the Court was on the cusp between Ottoman traditions and western expectations. She does seem to have had certain genuine difficulties, such as not being paid. (It might have been that her books contained an element of revenge for this).

Lott also claimed that it had become suspected in the harem that she had become Ismael’s mistress. Whether or not this was true, it would at least explain Ismael’s obvious caution about who he next employed as governesses; Miss Maclean, who was living in Cairo with her father, and the elderly Ellen. Young women, unaccompanied, were plainly seen as too much of a potential embarrassment.

None the less, it is likely that Lott exaggerated, and sensationalised her books (which were, after all, plainly meant for the popular market). Furthermore, times had changed since she had been employed. As Ellen explained: “Manners and customs have become … modified in Egypt during the last few years by the increasing number of Europeans…” And so, after her initial doubts, Ellen could say that: “All that I heard tended to encourage me.”

Indeed, care had obviously been taken to assemble a professional, experienced educational staff for the Khedival family, and furthermore one that would be adaptable to conditions abroad. Ellen showed in her book that she was certainly a dedicated teacher; although it was also certainly a wonderful travel adventure for her, as it would be to anyone, she shows that she never lost sight of what she was there for. One of the main threads throughout her book is how, and what she taught Zeynab and Kopsès; how she varied her lessons, how she made them relevant, how she tried to ensure that lessons were not interrupted, and so on.

This is in contrast to Lott, who only rarely mentions what or how she taught. Indeed, she claims that her teaching responsibilities were progressively reduced, to the point of her finally being told not to educate Prince Ibrahim at all. (She is careful not to explain why).

Ellen quickly realised that Kopsès was more intelligent than Princess Zeynab. However, “it would have been a false kindness to cultivate her [i.e. Kopsès’] powers according to their capability, at the risk of exciting ill-feeling on the part of the Princess, on whom she was wholly dependent.” Indeed, Kopsès was one of those fortunate people who seem to have so many gifts; intelligence, athletic ability, and beauty. I have a feeling that it would have been hard for most people to have stood comparison with her! Indeed, for all her professionalism, there is little doubt that she was Ellen’s favourite (if never favoured) pupil.

On the other hand Zeynab seems to have been academically something of a slow developer: “She was of a character that developed late, and required great encouragement.” Which Ellen, naturally, gave, continually finding ways to hold Zeynab’s interest, for all that she was “not quick at lessons.”

This was one of the reasons why Ellen was opposed to the tradition of shutting all females up in a harem. Indeed, many visitors to them remarked on what dreary places they were; Emmeline Lott was particularly sarcastic about this, referring to them as “the abode of bliss.” Ellen found that in the Palace harem there was an “entire absence of anything to promote amusement or mental occupation”, and dreaded the day when Zeynab would – inevitably – be confined to one.

Given that she wore clothing that was almost absurdly unsuitable for the climate, it is not surprising that Ellen found the heat, and sometimes very considerable humidity of Cairo a constant problem. Indeed, heatstroke must have been a real danger. And at first she was also greatly irritated by “myriads of mosquitoes and sand-flies”. However, she eventually became so used to them that “after two or three years I became accustomed to them and at last ceased to notice them altogether”.

Indeed, there is no doubt that Ellen had a very resilient character. After all, she was at the modern retirement age for women when she went to start a new life in Egypt, and yet remained physically very active, sometimes under quite demanding conditions. She does mention that she had two physical conditions – she was extremely short-sighted, and had to wear spectacles – and, towards the end of her time in Egypt she started to suffer from a mild heart-condition, which eventually contributed to her death.

Fortunately she seems to have escaped any major health-problems whilst in Egypt, although Mrs. Freeland’s children did suffer from opthalmia – a very common problem in Egypt.

She always rose early – usually at around 6 a.m., and often woke at dawn to watch the sunrise (which is indeed a special experience in Egypt; I have seen the sun rise over Luxor and Cairo myself, and it is truly a magical time). However, she does admit to over-sleeping on one occasion; when visiting the Pyramids with Zeynab and Ibrahim the educational staff were to set off especially early, to avoid the heat of later in the day, but due to the alarm-clock not having yet been invented(!) the carriage arrived for them before they were quite up and ready.

It is plain from Ellen’s book that she was a natural travel-writer. She was keen to explore, and was very observant, as well as extremely descriptive. She wanted to see as much as possible, and took every opportunity to do so. One of her favourite excursions was to the Ezbekea Gardens:

The Ezbekea Gardens as Ellen would have known them

“The Ezbekea Gardens were very different then to what they have since become. At that time they were a quiet resort where one could walk or sit unmolested for an hour or two. There was, and is a rockery, something like that in the Bois de Boulogne; a cascade, a cavern, and paths in and out… comfortable seats were scattered all over the garden, but the Arabs seemed to think them especially placed for their convenience, and were generally found on them asleep, stretched out at full length.”

This passage is also interesting, in that it suggests that Ellen maintained some kind of link with Egypt; how else could she have known what the Gardens were like in the 1890s?

To make her excursions she was happy to find a particularly good donkey to carry her. And:

“… wishing to secure him for further excursions, I asked his name.
“Yankee Doodle,” said the [donkey] boy.
“Oh, he is American, is he?” said I.
“Yes missus; in English, Lalla Rookh!” – rather a free translation.”

(Lalla-Rookh was the Persian heroine of a poem by Thomas Moore, published in 1817).

Ellen also, naturally visited the then new Cairo Opera-House, which had opened in 1869 (it burned down in 1971, to be replaced by the present Cairo Opera House).

The old Cairo Opera House

“I must not omit to mention our first visit to the opera. The play [sic] was “Aïda”… it was doubly interesting to us as it recalled the scenes of our voyage up the Nile”. (This will be described in the following post).

Verdi’s Aïda – which was not in fact, despite popular belief, written for the opening of the Suez Canal - had finally been completed in 1871 after various delays, and was to have 12 performances during the 1871-2 season. It was to remain a favourite at the Cairo Opera House (and of course elsewhere).

To Ellen, the interior furnishings of the Opera House, especially the boxes reserved for members of the Khedival harem, were as interesting as Aïda itself. The harem boxes were covered with a decorative metal mesh to prevent their occupants from being seen. They also had a separate entrance from outside.

Ellen first visited a harem when she was invited to the Abdeen Palace during Id al-Fitr, or as the Ottomans (and therefore Ellen) called it, Bairam. This festival follows the holy month of Ramadan, and traditionally involved receptions and visits to friends.

So it was that Ellen and Mrs. Freedland were invited to visit by Ismail’s wives, and also by his mother Princess Hoshiar, the “Validè Effendimiz” (translatable as “Mother of our Ruler”), who was usually referred to in western accounts as the “Validè Princess.”

Ellen and Mrs. Freedland first called on Ismail’s wives. Princess Zeynab had taught Ellen a polite greeting in Turkish to say to her mother during her Bairam visit. Somewhat embarrassingly, however, Ellen “thought I had it by heart, but I broke down in the middle of it. The Princesses laughed, and took it in very good part…”

However, the formal visit was soon over, and Ellen and Mrs. Freedland went on to meet Princess Hoshiar. Some years before, Emmeline Lott had also been invited to call on the Validè Princess during Bairam, and had all too predictably decided to hate her, describing her in her book as “a most shrewd and accomplished intriguante, one who would … “stick at nothing”, absolutely nothing”. (This perhaps says more about Lott herself than about Hoshiar).

It was whilst visiting Princess Hoshiar that Ellen and Mrs. Freedland were invited to drink coffee and smoke pipes; a traditional form of hospitality. Lott had complained that on her Bairam visit the coffee and pipes had only been offered to the princesses. If this was indeed so, then we might wonder why Ellen and Mrs. Freedland were more warmly welcomed than Lott had been!

Although she did not of course usually smoke, Ellen none the less took a pipe, explaining that:

“Formerly it had been de rigeur to accept the pipe, but European visitors had become frequent in the harms, and the inmates soon saw that their visitors were unaccustomed to smoking, so that declining the pipe gave no offence. I did not know this then, so I took the pipe.”

The pipe itself was huge. It was “about five feet long, and the attendant rested the bowl on a silver plate in front of me.” However, with her usual ability to smile at herself, Ellen then described what happened:

“I held the tube [i.e. stem of the pipe] between my lips for some time, wondering how such a thing could give either pleasure or pain, when a slave crossed the room, and turning the bowl, I found that I had been holding it downwards! I never tried smoking after that.”

No lessons were given during Bairam, although Zeynab did call upon Ellen at the house in Choubrah Road. It was plainly just one of a number of formal visits that Zeynab was making that day, as she “was magnificently dressed in black velvet, made in the last [i.e. latest] Parisian fashion. The trimming was of white ostrich-feathers; a diamond brooch, which, with the pendants attached to it, was as large in circumference as an orange, sparkled on her chest. She wore diamond earrings, a clasp of the same precious stones at the waist, black velvet boots with diamond buckles, and a velvet hat with the same feather trimming as on the dress.”

Although this was impressive to adults, poor Zeynab herself was not enjoying herself. “She had a weary look, as if all this adornment did not add to her happiness, and taking my hand, she asked me to go up-stairs with her and read a story to her!” Diamonds, evidently, are not always a girl’s best friend…

Ellen received a letter asking her to make a Bairam visit to the Countess of Dudley (Lady Georgina Ward, 1846-1929), as the Earl and Countess of Dudley were at that time guests of the Khedive. Evidently Ellen’s experience in aristocratic households was valuable in more ways than one to Ismail!

In January 1872 Ellen, always ready to see as much as she could of Egypt, went to see the start of the pilgrimage caravan to Mecca which accompanied the Mahmal, a highly decorated litter, carried by camels, which contained a holy carpet.

A 19th century Mahmal setting off

The Khedive, or one of his sons, always took part in the starting ceremony. Therefore awnings, with tables and chairs under them, were provided for the comfort of the Khedive and the chief dignitaries, and this was by far the best place to watch from – “if by favour you can get to them” Ellen points out (as by implication she did). “It is necessary, however, to be very early, as the space is limited and soon filled”.

The Khedival family were at this time looking forward to a voyage up the Nile…

To be continued...

Recollections of Egyptian Princesses

ELLEN CHENNELLS (Continued)

The mystery of Emmeline Lott
Ellen was aged 57 when she went to Egypt. This does not seem to have been a drawback to her appointment by the Khedive, who may, indeed, actually have preferred a mature woman to educate Zeynab during an important time in her development. What is more, there could be no doubt that Ellen was a highly experienced, and obviously capable governess - and, perhaps just as importantly, one who was used to aristocratic housholds and pupils.

No doubt Ismael would still have felt uneasy about Emmeline Lott's books about life in the palace, which were not only sexually suggestive, but were extremely insulting about the Khedival family and their domestic arrangements. Unlike Ellen, who realised that it was regarded as very bad manners to openly discuss anyone, and so who was reluctant to publish her memoirs even when almost destitute, Lott seems to have no hesitation about embarrassing anyone.

At this point, indeed, perhaps something needs to be said about Emmeline Lott, especially as her books have been compared to Ellen's. But, curiously, Lott remains a complete mystery; her dates are unknown, and she appears on no census, or record of births, marriages and deaths for the UK.

And this, surely, raises the question of whether she was, in fact, British, despite claiming to be. Indeed, one of her books was re-titled The English governess in Egypt, to emphasise it. But was it perhaps re-titled because questions were raised at the time about her nationality? After all, the name "Emmeline" was not, in the mid 19th century, an English name, although it did become popular towards the end of the century. In the extremely rare instances it does appear, the English spelling was "Emmiline". Of course it might have been a nickname, perhaps based on, e.g. "Emma". But none the less it does raise the possibility that she was not English (Lott is also, for example, a German name) and it must have led to suspicions at the time, which is perhaps why the title of her book was changed.

Certainly her books are written in very fluent English - indeed, a markedly journalistic, gossipy style. Plainly they are the work of an experienced writer, who knew what sold. So were they, just possibly, either ghosted, or sub-edited by her various publishers?

Lott's books cater for western fantasies about harems, and what - in western imagination - went on in them. She emphasises this in the subtitles of her books: Harem life in Egypt and constantinople; Nights in the harem, etc. Plainly these are titles that were intended to encourage sales, and aimed at a readership that was not particuarly interested in the - actually rather prosaic - reality of life in the palace harem. A harem was, after all, only the women's quarter of a house.

Rather hypocritically, however, Lott constantly protested that she found every thing to be offensively "lewd". (It is surely very significant that Ellen, who was the very model of an elderly, high Victorian spinster lady, never felt the same; indeed, she was quite willing to eventually go to live with Zeynab in the Gezireh and other palaces).

Unsurprisingly the harem angle sold plenty of copies of Lott's books, and has gained her some fame. The (English) Governess ran to at least four editions in the 19th century. But it does mean that they should be regarded with a degree of caution as historical documents. They do contain undoubted facts, but this is mixed with a great deal of far less valuable writing. They are most certainly not a sober, un-prejudiced, and un-sensational account of Egyptian court life at the time.

Indeed, there is a disturbingly racist element to Lott's books. She does not try to conceal the fact that she believed that the Egyptians, and the Ottomans were somehow "inferior." And this is no doubt why she almost exploded with rage when she was treated by them simply as - well, a governess. (It is hard to know what her contemporary audience would have felt about this; certainly any governess in England at the time would have been sacked for complaining even half so much as Lott did).

In fact whether she was an effective governess at all is open to question. She plainly had no liking for children, and spared no opportunity to be especially critical of Prince Ibrahim, who she taught. Ellen, on the other hand, took a far more professional, kindly and understanding approach. Indeed, a reader of their respective books might well wonder if they were writing about the same child, as regards Ibrahim).

Fortunately, however, for Ibrahim's development as a child if for no other reason, Lott finally decided that Egypt was just too horrid for her (or perhaps that she by now had gathered enough material for her books), and used her health as an excuse for ending her contract.

Unsurprisingly, then, Ellen felt that she needed to explain why she had taken notes. "I had always been in the habit of keeping a journal when travelling or residing in foreign countries." There is no particular reason to doubt this explanation; almost every middle and upper-class woman of the time was in fact expected to keep a diary; many men did, too. And given Ellen's reluctance to publish her "journal" for many years, it does not appear that she had publication as an aim.

Certainly she seems to have gained Ismael's confidence. Firstly he wished her to remain living with Zeynab after her marriage. Indeed, even after Zeynab's tragic early death Ellen's contract "still remained good, and... I heard that his Highness intended to employ me again." (However, national events were to prevent this).

This is not to say that Ellen liked everything that she found in Egypt. The food was not always to her taste, and in particular she found it hard to accept things like eunuchs, and slavery. She was also quick to see inefficiency and waste. However, throughout her narrative we hear the voice of someone who expected to find that things were different, and could be uncomfortable on occasion, but who was prepared to make the best of it. Indeed, had misfortune not overtaken Ismael and his family, she may very well have lived out her days in Egypt, ending up not in a small boarding-house but in a palace in Alexandria.

To be continued...

Recollections of Egyptian Princesses

ELLEN CHENNELLS (Continued)

Egypt

Ellen arrived in Cairo in late 1871 to join the rest of the Khedive's educational staff, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Freedland.

Mitchell, an Oxford University graduate was teaching the Khedive Ismael's eldest son Greek and Latin to prepare him for entry to Oxford. Freedland, who had come to Egypt with his wife and family taught the young Prince Ibrahim (1860-1927). Ellen was to teach Ibrahim's sister, Princess Zeynab (1859-1875).

Ibrahim and Zeynab, ca. 1870

Ellen also taught Zeynab's companion, a girl of the same age, a Circassian slave called Kopsès Hanem. Kopsès had been raised by Zeynab's mother, Princess Jananyar.

Kopsès as a young woman, ca. 1870s

Kopsès was to become a remarkable young woman, fluent in several languages and a capable organiser, as well as extremely beautiful. She was to become a great friend of Ellen's - indeed, I suspect, actually her favourite pupil.

Ellen was in fact Zeynab's second Governess. The first had been a Miss Maclean, the eldest daughter of a General Maclean, who had been Ibrahim's previous tutor (taking over in turn, it seems, from Emmeline Lott).

However, whilst Emmeline had been obliged to live in the palace harem, by the 1870s the teaching staff had their own house, in the fashionable Choubrah Road, Cairo, to where Zeynab and Ibrahim were brought each day in closed carriages. One of the positive things about the Khedive Ismael was that he was a great educational reformer, and besides accepted that the very enclosed, restricted world of the harem was not the best place for a young child to spend all her time.

Ibrahim and Zeynab were the only surviving children, out of six, of Ismael's second wife, Princess Jananyar (or Janazir) Berenici Khanum Effendimiz (1827-1912), who was known as the "Princess Epousée", or (at that time) the "Second Princess".

The harem was by this time situated in the huge new Abdeen Palace, one of several new palaces that had been built by Ismael. It would have been, in fact, still partly under construction when Ellen arrived in Egypt, not being fully complete until the mid 1870s.

Khedive Ismael

It is rather outside the scope of this short biography to go into much detail about Ismael. Besides, there is plenty written about him elsewhere. However, as he was an important - if somewhat behind the scenes - character in Ellen's story, he needs to be introduced.

Ismael succeeded as Walī of Egypt in 1863, subsequently becoming Khedive. He had been educated in Paris, and was to remain heavily westernised in his opinions. This was, too, a time when European powers, especially France, were becoming involved with Eygpt; Ismael's successor, Said I, for instance having given approval for the Suez Canal to be built. It was a project that Ismael was to also become heavily - and perhaps disastrously - involved with in turn.

Ismael gained considerable independence from the Ottoman Sultan, although remaining nominally subject to him. Ellen was to describe a state visit by the Khedival family to the Sultan in Constantinople (now Istanbul).

Ismael succeded to the throne at a time when Egypt had unusual prosperity, due to its cotton crop being in great demand as a result of American cotton becoming unavailable during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Egypt was flush with money, and Ismael wanted to spend.

He built factories, railways, a large new suburb of Cairo based on Parisian architecture, an opera-house, and several new palaces, including the Abdeen Palace. He wanted to create an Egyptian empire, and attempted to invade Ethiopia, although his army was humiliatingly defeated. And there was also, of course, the continuing and increasing expenditure on the Suez Canal.

The Abdeen Palace is a good example of the kind of building that Ismael was to become notorious for. The structure alone cost LE 700,000, with a further LE 2 million being spent on its furnishings. Used by subsequent kings and presidents of Egypt, the Palace has now been restored, and parts of it are open as a museum.

However, the extra revenue that Egypt received for cotton ended after the American Civil War. Ismael tried to raise money from international loans, and this resulted in Egypt falling into huge debt to western banks. By the time Ellen left Egypt the national debt was the equivalent of a hundred million pounds sterling. It is hard to calculate this as a modern amount, but it effectively meant national ruin for Egypt.

This of course had a calamitous effect. Lady Lucie Duff-Gordon, who lived in Egypt at the time described the desperate poverty and crippling taxes that resulted.

Ellen did not criticise Ismael in her book, no doubt out of loyalty to Zeynab. However, it did seriously affect her too; she had put all he savings in to Egyptian Bonds, which collapsed in value in 1875 after the Khedive was refused any further credit. "All I possessed was invested in Egyptian bonds", she wrote. "And they kept falling! falling! falling! They actually went down to £25!" (The purchasing equivalent of a mere £1,600 today, based on average prices).

Fortunately for Ellen, if not for Egypt, the British and French governments took over Egypt's finances (and eventually government) after 1875. Her bonds were saved, although the interest from them was reduced. Indeed, they may have been the "annuities" that she was living off at the time of her death.

In fact it was at this scary time that Ellen first considered publishing her memoirs: "My Anglo-Egyptian friends strongly advised me to publish my journal, and I revised it for that purpose." However, it was strongly against Egyptian culture at the time to write and publish an account of someone, and Ellen most certainly had no wish to offend her Egyptian friends. Only twenty years later, when the Khedive and Ibrahim were in exile, and both Zeynab and Kopsès were dead, and there was "no-one left to feel aggrieved at my publication" did she finally (and thankfully) write her book.

Eventually Egypt could stand no more of Ismael. It was not only the finances and tax, but Europeans and Turkish Circassians were favoured above Egyptians in the civil service and military. A separate - and resented - legal system for Europeans had also been established. And so, in 1882, the Urabi Revolution, named for its leader, Colonel Ahmed Urabi, broke out, with considerable violence taking place in Alexandria.

Britain, which had previously had little interest in Egypt, now felt that it had to protect the Suez Canal, which had become the vital link to India. And so a British military invasion followed, resulting in an occupation that was to last until 1954. Ismael was forced out of office, being replaced by his son, Tewfik. Ismael went into exile, first in Naples but later in a palace at Emirgan, in Turkey, where he was kept as a virtual prisoner by the Sulan until his death in 1895. Ellen likened Ismael's enforced stay at Emirgan to his being a fly, caught in a spider's web.

It would not be fair, however, to cast Ismael as a villain. Much of his spending was aimed at modernising Egypt. He completed the Suez Canal, which although a mixed blessing to Egypt at the time has considerably benefited the country since. He also created a network of railways, as well as an efficient postal-service.

And as I have mentioned, he was a great educational reformer, with one of his greatest achievements being in massively improving female education. And this was to serve future generations of Egyptians well. He also increased democracy in Egypt, setting up an Assembly which - for the first time - gave local, rural areas a voice in government. He also opposed slavery, eventually making it illegal in Egypt (although somewhat ironically making a great deal of use of corvée (conscript) labour for the Suez Canal, and his other schemes.

In the next post, I shall look at Ellen's adventures in Egypt.

To be continued...

Recollections of Egyptian Princesses

ELLEN CHENNELLS (Continued)

It’s unfortunate that we know far more about what Ellen did during her five years in Egypt than what she did for the rest of her life. After the death of Zeynab, she stayed in Egypt for about a year, finally leaving in the autumn of 1876. She seems to have left mostly for health reasons, particularly a heart condition (which was indeed later to become a contributory factor of her death). Besides, she was by now aged 62, and obviously thinking about retirement.

She chose to live in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, a spa-town in the west of England that was increasingly popular with people who had worked in parts of Britain’s expanding empire, especially the Indian Raj. And here her sister, Anne Lydia came to join her in retirement.

Ellen would certainly have found Cheltenham a very agreeable place to live after the heat and dust of Cairo. Set at the foot of the Cotswold Hills, it is still a quiet, largely Regency town, with plenty of wide streets and parks – as well, of course, as its spa. Cheltenham had long been famous for its “cure”, and attracted many famous visitors, such as Princess (later Queen) Victoria, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Byron. Certainly the taste of the local spa-water can make you believe it must be doing you some good!

The town is now also particularly famous for its annual Gold Cup horse-race.

There was also plenty of reasonably cheap accommodation, to cater for those wanting to visit the spa, or who wished to retire there, and the Chennells sisters found accommodation at Belle Vue Villa, where they are recorded as living in the 1881 Census. The owners of Belle Vue Villa were the young Mr. and Mrs. Packwood, and their paternal grandmother. There were two other lodgers, besides the Chennells, an Edgar Page and his slightly older wife, Emily. A young servant, Georgiana Hall, aged 15, helped with the housework.

The Chennells sisters would most likely have led the somewhat retired life of many such retired “gentlewomen” of the day. They were both described as “annuitants” – presumably meaning that Ellen, at least, lived on the income from her Egyptian Bonds.

Anne Lydia died in 1885, aged about 73, and Ellen, presumably needing only a smaller space to live, moved to her last address, 7 Rodney Terrace Cheltenham. Rodney Terrace is a row of modest 19th Century houses, in the town centre. The houses are all now converted into offices, and have been re-numbered, making it difficult to tell which had been No. 7.

Rodney Terrace, Cheltenham

Here Ellen lived with the Dudge family, Charles, aged 46 in 1891, his wife Elizabeth, 42, and one son, Edward, aged 15. Presumably Edward was merely the only child still living at home at this time. There was another lodger apart from Ellen, Emma Ferris aged 58. There was also a servant, Alma Habits, aged 17.

This photo shows the house that may have been number 7. (It depends on which end of the row you start counting from). In any case, all the houses in the Terrace are identical in size and appearance.

So as you can see, Ellen would have had only modestly sized accommodation, although the house is conveniently placed and no doubt was reasonably comfortable. I wonder if Ellen dreamed there of the time when she had lived in palaces, as the companion of a Princess? Certainly she seems to have always been proud of having once been Princess Zeynab’s governess, as a special mention of it was made in the short notice of her death in the local newspaper.

Ellen died on 13th November 1896. The details on her death-certificate are as follows:

“Registration District Cheltenham. 1896 Death in the Sub-district of Cheltenham in the County of Gloucester.
No. 6.
When and where died: 13th November 1896. 7 Rodney Terrace.
Name and surname: Ellen Mary Chennells
Sex: Female
Age: 82 years
Occupation: Annuitant
Cause of death: Bronchitis & congestion of lungs 9 days. Dilation of heart of long standing. Certified by J.C. Gooding, M.D.
Signature, description and residence of informant: Elizabeth Dudge, present at the death, 7 Rodney Terrace Cheltenham.
When registered: 16th November 1896.
Signature of Reigstrar: J. A. Round, Interim Registrar.”

Presumably she would have been buried, with her sister, in the Cheltenham Cemetery, which is rather delightfully situated beneath Cleeve Hill, one of the Cotswolds. Unfortunately her grave is not listed amongst the Cemetery’s “Graves of Interest”, but who knows, maybe that may one day change (proposals could be sent to Cheltenham Borough Council). Incidentally Brian Jones, a member of the “Rolling Stones” pop-group is buried in the same cemetery.

I have not yet tried to locate her grave, but hope to do so in future. And by the way, if anyone visits Cheltenham in search of Ellen, spa-water, horse-racing, lovely Georgian architecture, the Cotswolds, or even some interesting frock-shops(!), and does visit her grave, I’d love to see a photo, or hear what you may have found out. Cheltenham is easily reachable from London or Birmingham by coach and car, or even by rail, although the station seems to be a bit inconveniently far from the middle of the town.

The notice of her death in the Cheltenham Examiner for Wednesday, 18 November 1896 reads:

“CHENNELLS – November 13, at 7, Rodney-Terrace, Eleanor Mary Chennells, formerly Governess of the Khedive’s family – aged 82 years.”

But now let us return to happier times, when Ellen was in Egypt…

To be continued.

Recollections of Egyptian Princesses

ELLEN CHENNELLS (Ca. 1814-1896)

Introduction and early life
Coincidentally, at the same time as the height of Margaret Benson and Janet Gourlay’s archaeological success, in 1896, a woman of a previous generation of western female involvement with Egypt was approaching the end of her life.

Her name was Eleanor Mary "Ellen" Chennells, and, as the culmination of a long career she had been appointed as Governess to Princess Zeynab Khanum Effendi, daughter of Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt and his second wife, Princess Jananyar Berinici Khanum Effendimiz. And she had written a book about her experiences, Recollections of an Egyptian Princess by her English governess, that is now one of the classic sources of information about the Khedival court at an important phase in modern Egyptian history.

Curiously, the first 35 or so years of Ellen’s life are something of a mystery. There are no certain references to her in any Census before 1851 (although there is an inconclusive reference to an "Ellen Channells" [sic] in the 1841 Census, who has approximately the right birth-date). This may suggest that she, and her family, went to live abroad sometime after 1814 – there is a reference in Ellen’s book to residence in Malta.

Records are even unclear about exactly when she was born; the 1851 Census states that it was in "about 1819" and even, in the 1871 Scotland Census, that it was in "about 1820". However, the most reliable sources, e.g. her death certificate, as well as other Censuses, give her birthdate as around 1814 or 1815.

She always stated that her birthplace was Bloomsbury, London, in around 1814. However, although the UK Censuses, and Death Certificates usually give the name of a person’s parents, Ellen’s were, for some unknown reason, never listed. (I guess some more research in to any Bloomsbury parish records that survive may produce further details).

A part of Bloomsbury, London, around the time of Ellen's birth

But why did Ellen never reveal who here parents were? It could not, surely, have been due to any scandal. After all, she lived during the high Victorian era, and any hint of something improper would have meant that Ellen, in particular, would never have been employed, certainly by the kind of families that she did work for. What’s more, Ellen always seems to have had the kind of social confidence that was so obviously lacking in one of her predecessors as Governess to the Khedival family, the mysterious Emmeline Lott (fl. ca. 1865).

(A blog posting about Emmeline Lott, by the way, would be extremely short – the absence of information about her is almost complete, to the extent that some form of deliberate concealment has to be suspected).

The only definitely known fact about Ellen’s family is that she had an older sister, Anne Lydia (ca. 1812 – 1885). In 1841 Anne Lydia was recorded in the Census as working in a girls’ boarding-school on the Isle of Wight. She may indeed have been co-owner of this school, as she and a certain Ann Purks are the oldest (both aged 25), of a group of girls and young women, none of the rest of whom are listed as being older than 15. Towards the end of her life she lived with Ellen, in lodgings.

(Strangely, although Anne Lydia is mentioned in this Census, Ellen is not. So if the family were indeed living abroad, it might suggest that Ellen had not yet moved back to the UK).

Unfortunately I don’t even know what Ellen looked like, having been unable to trace any photos of her. Modesty, perhaps, prevented her from including a photo of herself in her book – but how lovely it would have been if she had!

This photo is of a woman in the 1860s who appears to be of approximately Ellen’s age during that decade, and may give some impression of what she might have looked like at the time.

Woman in clothing of 1860s

The first definite trace that I can find of Ellen is in the 1851 UK Census. Evidently, therefore, she was living abroad before this (in Malta?) The 1851 Census records her as governess to the two young daughters of the Hughan family, Wilhelmine and Louise. Their mother seems to have died, as the only other female Hughan listed is evidently their grandmother, given her age. The Hughans lived in a rather expensive area of London, Hanover Square, a Regency development that had been built in what was then the suburbs of London.

And this, then, starts to give us a picture of the Chennells sisters. Both had been born in a good-class area of central London, Bloomsbury (an area of London which was to attract writers, universities and museums). Both had enough money – and social contacts – to either set up their own school, or to work for upper-class (even, later on, Royal) families. Both were able to invest consideraby – but unfortunately somewhat unwisely - in bonds. They had to work for a living, but do not appear to have led the somewhat wretched lives of many other governesses of the period, as depicted in the writings of, e.g., Charlotte Brontë.

That both the Chennells sisters earned their livings as teachers, or governesses, is explained by the fact that this was, at the time, just about the only form of employment for women of their social class. Women’s role in society had been continually restricted since the end of the 18th century, narrowing the range of "respectable" work available to them. Technological inventions such as the typewriter and telegraph, which provided so much work for women later in the century were still some way in the future.

Ellen’s next known employment was with a far more important family; in the 1861 Census we find her employed by John Rous, the Second Earl of Stradbroke and sometime Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, at his seat, Henham Park in Suffolk, England. (His descendants now live in Australia). It would seem her charges were the Earl’s two youngest daughters, Augusta Fanny and Sophia Evelyn Rous.

The Earl’s brother, the Hon. Henry Rous, was an Admiral in the British Royal Navy, and this, just possibly, may have provided Ellen with the introductions for her next post, as Governess to Sir Alexander Milne, First Lord of the Admiralty from 1872 to 1876 and Admiral of the Fleet from 1881.

Sir Alexander came from an already distinguished Naval family - his father had also been an Admiral – and in fact become one of the most notable figures in the Victorian Navy. He was rewarded with his Baronetcy in 1876.

Ellen lived with the Milnes at their home, Walne Lodge, Inveresk, Midlothian, Scotland, where she is recorded in the 1871 Scotland Census, evidently looking after Margaret Milne, then aged 12, and Grace Milne, 10.

Ellen herself was aged 56, and might well have been expected to be thinking about retirement. Certainly working in the different climate and culture of Egypt might have been something of a physical challenge.

And yet, later in 1871, she was to accept the post of Governess to Princess Zeynab. No doubt she felt that it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, in only a few years the Milne daughters would reach the age when they no longer required a governess, and then Ellen would have had to seek new employment in any case.

Princess Zeynab, ca. 1870

Certainly she herself must have believed herself – at least at first - equal to the physical demands Egypt. And indeed, it was, indeed, to prove somewhat physically demanding on occasion; Ellen describes how, in 1871, Zeynab "suddenly disappeared down the opening [of the Third Pyramid] with surprising alacrity. Of course we all followed immediately… You were always going up, or down and generally on all-fours…" What made things worse was that Ellen was wearing a "crinoline and fashionable high bonnet".

(I can tell you from personal experience that even now going into the Third Pyramid is pretty strenuous, even in modern hiking boots and clothing!)

But how did she obtain such an important post? Certainly she would have been able to provide the very best references. And the Khedival family had, it seems, long employed British tutors for their children. Emmeline Lott suggests that she had been recruited by "The Viceroy’s [i.e. the Khedive Ismael’s] agent in London", who then, somewhat curiously, passed her onto the Alexandria, Egypt, branch of a bank.

However, Ellen gives no clue as to how her employment with the Khedive was arranged, although I would expect that the Ottoman Embassy in London was involved. (Egypt was then part of the Ottoman Empire; this is why Emmeline Lott states that Ishmael was a "Viceroy", although in fact the position of the Egyptian Khedive was somewhat more powerful than this, at the time). In any case, Ellen’s employer at the time, Sir Alexander Milne, would of course have been in an excellent situation to recommend her.

However, Ellen was in no hurry to accept even such a prestigious post. She wrote in her memoirs, Recollections of an Egyptian Princess by her English Governess (published by William Blackwood and Sons, 1893) that: "it was the beginning of quite a new life, and I was anxious to obtain every possible information before undertaking the duty."

No doubt she had Emmeline Lott’s books in mind. Not only do these – at least on the cover – present a somewhat sensationalist picture of "The English governess in Egypt and Turkey", with an emphasis on harems, but Emmeline Lott also complained – at considerable length – about the conditions she worked under.

Emmeline Lott(?) in Ottoman dress, ca. 1867

However, times had changed since Emmeline Lott had been employed. Furthermore, Ellen was obviously a practical and adaptable individual, who coped with difficulties and inconveniences in a far less uncomplaining way than Emmeline Lott.

Indeed, had not Princess Zeynab unfortunately died in 1875, then Ellen would have remained a part of her household. Certainly Ellen, unlike Emmeline Lott, had experience of life outside Britain, as she states in Recollections of an Egyptian Princess that she ‘had always been in the habit of keeping a journal when travelling or residing in foreign countries.’

The families that she worked for would have travelled, certainly to the watering-places of Europe, and as governess she would have accompanied them. They may even have spent considerable periods abroad, between the annual London "seasons". If only Ellen’s journals had survived! How interesting they would now be! And of course, they would also solve the mystery as to which country or countries she resided in.

To be continued...