Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson
Born19 May 1876
Norwood
Died17 January 1958
Edinburgh
Occupation(s)photographer and author
Known forphotography in the remote Scottish Highlands

Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson known as M.E.M. Donaldson (19 May 1876 – 17 January 1958), was an early 20th century British author and photography pioneer,[1] and described as an 'unconventional ethnographer'.[2]

Life

Her father, Alexander Murray Donaldson (1834-1883), had emigrated from Scotland to Adelaide, Australia and returned to settle with her mother, Mary Isabella Muir (1840-1926) to live in Norwood, Surrey, England, where Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson was born.[3][1] Family connections with the Donaldson shipping line were likely the source of the family's money, which in turn allowed her to undertake her research and writing.[4] In Croydon she met her life long friend, illustrator Isabel Bonus [5] (whose family wealth also came from ship broking) and they moved to Scotland. (Isabel's aunt was the famous and unconventional Anna Kingsford (nee Bonus).)

She became a photographer to follow up her interest in her Scottish roots in the Clan Donald, in 1905 travelling to remote areas of Inverness-shire and Argyll with heavy photographic equipment. She wrote biographies of Scottish people (including herself) and also wrote about the religious differences in regions of Scotland. She was a 'High Anglican' and did not support the Scottish Presbyterian reformed church.[1][6]

Her biography says 'she wanted to find a way of life which was a challenge both to her mind and to her body.'[7]

Her images captured what were 'disappearing aspects' of rural life in the early 20th century.[1] She was said to display sensitivity and artistic composition in her images, and also learned the sciences of chemistry and optics to process her photographs and modify the equipment she used.[6] She worked with her friend and companion Isabel Bonus on the illustrations for some of her travel books until 'watercolour became too expensive' and she then used 900 photographs for her book Wanderings in the Western Highlands (1921)[8] and apologised for the image quality.[1]

In 1925 Donaldson and Bonus built a new house of local materials (blue granite and heather and turf roof)[9] at Sanna Bheag, Ardnamurchan. It was modern but thus blended with the landscape, and included a built-in darkroom for her photographic processes.[10] The Inverness Museum has an image of Donaldson and the house.[11]

Sanna Ardnamurchan
Sanna, Ardnamurchan

Bonus died in 1941, and the house burned down in 1947.[6] Donaldson later lived in Cornwall then in Edinburgh where she died in 1958.[1]

Burial

Donaldson was buried in Isabel Bonus's grave in Oban and their headstone is inscribed:

HERE LIES THE

FOLDED GARMENT OF

ISABEL BONUS

BELOVED FRIEND DEPARTED THIS

LIFE AUGUST 9TH 1941

WHEN THOU REWARDEST THY SAINTS

O LORD REMEMBER HER FOR GOOD

HERE ALSO LIE THE MORTAL REMAINS OF

M.E.M. DONALDSON, HER BELOVED FRIEND

WHO WROTE BOOKS IN DEFENCE OF SCOTLANDS

FAITHFUL REMNANT, THE SCOTTISH EPISCOPAL

CHURCH, DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON 17TH JAN. 1958

"GOD BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER"[6]

Published works

  • Isles of Flame (1913) [12]
  • Tonal Mactonal (1919)[13]
  • Wanderings in the Western Highlands (1921)[8]
  • Islemen of Bride (1922)
  • Further Wanderings - mainly in Argyll (1926)[14]
  • Scotland's Suppressed History (1935)[15]
  • Scottish Biographies (1938)
  • 'Till Scotland Melts in Flame' talks on Scottish church history for young people, etc.(1949)[16]

Legacy

Over a thousand of her glass-plate negatives (1049), mostly landscapes are in the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery and a further 123, mainly portraiture in the National Museum of Scotland : donated by her biographer, John Telfer Dunbar.[1]

One of the NMS images epitomises her style, it is of Lauchlan MacAskill 'with a peat spade, his pet dog and kitten' at Laig Bay, Isle of Eigg.[17]

In November 2022 Donaldson's work featured in the GLEAN exhibition at Edinburgh's City Art Centre of 14 early women photographers working in Scotland.[18]

Further reading

Dunbar, J.T. (1979) ' Herself: the life and photographs of M.E.M. Donaldson'' [7] pub. Blackwood[19]

Robin Waddell's website with biographical details and M. E. M. Donaldson's photographs

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women. Elizabeth Ewan. Edinburgh. 2018. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-1-4744-3629-8. OCLC 1057237368.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ↑ Macaulay, Susy (24 June 2021). "Remembering Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson who captured lost way of life in Highlands". Press and Journal. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "OrnaVerum - Donaldson Connection".
  4. ↑ The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, ed. Elizabeth Ewan et al, Edinburgh University Press, 2006, p. 98
  5. ↑ Waddell, R E. "The Bonus family tree". Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Mesmerising memories of MEM Donaldson". AnArt4Life. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  7. 1 2 Dunbar, John Telfer (1979). 'Herself' : the life and photographs of M.E.M. Donaldson. M. E. M. (Mary Ethel Muir) Container of: Donaldson, William Blackwood and Sons. Edinburgh, Scotland. ISBN 0-85158-133-1. OCLC 16479825.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. 1 2 Donaldson, Mary Ethel Muir (1923). Wanderings in the Western Highlands and Islands : Recounting Highland & Clan History, Traditions, Ecclesiology, Archaeology, Romance, Literature, Humour, Folk-Lore, Etc. University of Guelph Library. Paisley : A. Gardner, 1923.
  9. ↑ Shane. "The Sanna house of M.E.M. Donaldson | Steading Holiday Cottages". Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  10. ↑ "M.E.M. Donaldson". Inverness Museum and Art Gallery. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  11. ↑ "M.E.M. Donaldson standing in front of her house, 'Sanna Bheag'". Am Baile. GB1796_859_20_0355 Asset no 10081. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  12. ↑ Donaldson, Mary Ethel Muir (1913). The Isles of Flame: A Romance of the Inner Hebrides in the Days of Columba. A. Gardner.
  13. ↑ Donaldson, Mary Ethel Muir. Tonal MacTonal. Gardner.
  14. ↑ Donaldson, Mary Ethel Muir (1926). Further Wanderings, Mainly in Argyll: Recounting Highland History, Traditions, Ecclesiology, Archaeology, Romance, Present Conditions, Crofters' Life, and Wild Life, Humour, Literature, Folk-lore, &c. A. Gardner.
  15. ↑ Donaldson, Mary Ethel Muir (1935). Scotland's Suppressed History. J. Murray. ISBN 978-7-230-01116-7.
  16. ↑ Donaldson, Mary Ethel Muir (1949). Till Scotland Melts in Flame: Talks on Scottish Church History for Young People - and Others. Faith Press.
  17. ↑ Donaldson, Mary Ethel Muir (1920s). "Photograph - SLA.C. 18266". National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  18. ↑ Stephen, Phyllis (10 November 2022). "At the City Art Centre – Glean – an exhibition of films and photographs". The Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  19. ↑ Rosenblum, Naomi (2010). A history of women photographers (3rd ed.). New York, N.Y.: Abbeville Press Publishers. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-7892-0998-6. OCLC 209748846.
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