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, and described as an 'unconventional ethnographer'.

Life

Her father, Alexander Murray Donaldson (1834-1883), had emigrated from Scotland to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, 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. 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. She became a photographer to follow up her interest in her Scottish roots in the

Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

, in 1905 travelling to remote areas of

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populatio ...

and

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

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 Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

reformed church. Her biography says 'she wanted to find a way of life which was a challenge both to her mind and to her body.' Her images captured what were 'disappearing aspects' of rural life in the early 20th century. She was said to display sensitivity and artistic composition in her images, and also learned the sciences of chemistry and

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

to process her photographs and modify the equipment she used. 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) and apologised for the image quality. In 1925 Donaldson and Bonus built a new house of local materials (blue granite and heather and turf roof) at ''Sanna Bheag'', Ardnamurchan. It was modern but thus blended with the landscape, and included a built-in

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...

for her photographic processes. The Inverness Museum has an image of Donaldson and the house. Coastline at Sanna - geograph

Bonus died in 1941, and the house burned down in 1947. Donaldson later lived in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

then in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

where she died in 1958.

Burial

Donaldson was buried in Isabel Bonus's grave in

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

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"

Published works

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

Legacy

Over a thousand of her glass-plate negatives (1049), mostly landscapes are in the

Inverness Museum and Art Gallery Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

and a further 123, mainly portraiture in the

National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in ...

: donated by her biographer, John Telfer Dunbar. 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. 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.

External links

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

References