Ella Sykes or Ella Constance Sykes (11 November 1863 – 23 March 1939) was a traveller and writer from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
Life
Sykes was born in
Stoke
Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom.
Stoke may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below.
Berkshire
* Stoke Row, Berkshire
Bristol
* Stoke Bishop
* Stok ...
near Plymouth in 1863. Her parents were Army chaplain Rev. William Sykes (born 1829) and his wife Mary, daughter of Captain Anthony Oliver Molesworth, of the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
, descended from
Robert Molesworth, 1st
Viscount Molesworth
Viscount Molesworth, of Swords in the County of Dublin, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1716 for Robert Molesworth. He was made Lord Molesworth, Baron of Philipstown, of King's County, at the same time, also in the Peerage ...
. Her father was honorary chaplain to Queen Victoria. Her sister
Ethel Sykes
Ethel Sykes or Ethel Rosalie Sykes (30 October 1864 – 8 March 1945) was a British teacher and writer. She managed the thousands of women who worked at Lloyds Bank during the first world war. She was retained when many of them were laid off as ...
was also a writer,
and their only brother
Percy Sykes
Brigadier-General Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes, (28 February 1867 – 11 June 1945) was a British soldier, diplomat, and scholar with a considerable literary output. He wrote historical, geographical, and biographical works, as well as describing ...
became a brigadier, diplomat and writer. Her father William was the second son of Richard Sykes, of Edgeley House,
Stockport, owner of the
Sykes Bleaching Company; Percy Sykes was thus the nephew of
Richard Sykes, the
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
player who founded towns in America, and cousin of
Sir Alan Sykes, 1st Baronet
Sir Alan John Sykes, 1st Baronet (11 April 1868 – 21 May 1950) was an English businessman in the bleaching industry and Conservative politician in Cheshire.
Biography
Sykes was born at Cringle House Cheadle, the second son of Thomas Hardc ...
who was MP for
Knutsford
Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was ...
,
Cheshire.
She was educated at
Plymouth High School and then the boarding school
Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army
The Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army was a girls' boarding school situated in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England. In 1998 it was incorporated into the Royal High School, Bath, Royal High School.
Early history
The Royal School for D ...
in Bath. She then joined the recently opened Oxford college for women
Lady Margaret Hall in 1881 and left in 1883. Her sister, who had a nearly identical education, left in 1884.
She had enough money that she did not need to work. In 1894 her brother Percy was tasked with establishing consulates in
Kerman and
Baluchistan and he invited her to come along. They spent two years travelling.
[ When she returned she used her experiences to write ''Through Persia on a Side-Saddle'', which was published in 1898.
left, Two men on yaks - an illustration from her and her brother's book ''Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia''
She also took photographs whilst on the journey, and an album of photographs was published but these were all taken by her brother.
In 1915 she set off again to accompany her brother. He had been asked to become the temporary consul replacing Sir George Macartney in Kashgar whilst he and ]Catherine Macartney
Catherine Theodora, Lady Macartney (1877–1949). Catherine (née Borland) was born in Bexley, Kent, England. She was the second daughter of James Borland born 1836 in Castle Douglas, Scotland. In 1898, she married Sir George Macartney, the Britis ...
took a vacation. They had to journey to Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...
and then proceed by pony over passes 12,000 feet above sea level to find Kashgar in Turkestan. The journey took them over a month. Whilst they were there they travelled further in some places this was exploration. She was the first British woman to pass through the "Katta Dawan" pass that was 13,000 feet high. Their journey home also took a month and these journeys were recorded in photographs. In 1920 she and her brother Percy published ''Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia''.
Sykes died in her home in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1939.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Ella
1863 births
1939 deaths
Writers from Plymouth, Devon
British women photographers
Photographers from Plymouth, Devon