Isabella Lilias Trotter (14 July 1853 – 27 August 1928) was a British artist and a

Protestant missionary A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

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Early life

Lilias Trotter was born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

, London, to Isabella and Alexander Trotter, a wealthy stockbroker for Coutts Bank. Both parents were well-read, intellectually curious, and inclined toward humanitarianism. Isabella Strange, a Low Church Anglican and the daughter of colonial administrator Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange, married Alexander after the death of his first wife, who had borne him six children. Lilias was the first of three children born to this second marriage. Although Lilias was devastated by the death of her father when she was twelve, the family's financial circumstances were only comparatively diminished by his loss. The next year, the family moved to 40

Montagu Square Montagu Square is a garden square in Marylebone, London. It is centred 550 metres north of Marble Arch and 440 m east of Edgware Road. Internally it spans by and is oriented on an axis of about NNW, an axis lasting for four block ...

, where a next-door neighbor was writer Anthony Trollope.

Career

In her early twenties, Trotter and her mother were greatly influenced by the

Higher Life Movement The Higher Life movement, also known as the Keswick movement or Keswickianism, is a Protestant theological tradition within evangelical Christianity that espouses a distinct teaching on the doctrine of entire sanctification. Its name comes ...

, and Lilias joined the volunteer force that counseled inquirers during the London campaign meetings of American evangelist

Dwight L. Moody Dwight Lyman Moody (February 5, 1837 – December 26, 1899), also known as D. L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher connected with Keswickianism, who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massa ...

. Although Trotter was a nearly self-taught artist, her mother believed her talent exceptional, and in 1876, she sent some of Lilias' drawings to art critic and social philosopher

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

while all three were staying in

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—the latter while recovering from the early death of

Rose La Touche Rose La Touche (1848–1875) was the pupil, cherished student, "pet", and ideal on whom the English art historian John Ruskin based ''Sesame and Lilies'' (1865). Background Rose was born to John "The Master" La Touche (1814-1904), (of the Hu ...

, a young pupil to whom he had proposed marriage. Ruskin praised Trotter's artistic skill, and she became an informal student and a good friend despite the disparity in their ages. Ruskin told Trotter that if she would devote herself to her art "she would be the greatest living painter and do things that would be Immortal." Although Trotter was drawn to the prospect of a life in art, in May 1879, she decided that she could not give herself "to painting and continue still to 'seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.'" She and Ruskin remained friends, and he never entirely relinquished the hope that she might return to art. Trotter became active in the

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YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

and served as secretary, "a voluntary position usually filled by women like herself from wealthy families." She did a considerable amount of teaching and (unusually for respectable young women of the period) fearlessly canvassed the streets alone at night near Victoria Station for prostitutes who might be persuaded to train for an employable skill or to simply spend a night in a hostel. In 1884, suffering from physical and emotional exhaustion, she underwent surgery which, though "slight in nature … left her very ill." Apparently her heart was permanently damaged in the process.

Algeria

During the next few years, Trotter felt an impulse toward missionary work in non-Christian lands, even telling one of her friends that "whenever she prayed, the words 'North Africa' sounded in her soul as though a voice were calling her." In May 1887, when a missionary to North Africa asked at a religious meeting if God was calling anyone to North Africa, Trotter rose and said, "He is calling me." On 14 July, her thirty-fourth birthday, she applied as a candidate to the North African Mission—which then rejected her because she was unable to pass its health examination. However, because she had the resources to be self-supporting, the Mission decided that she might "work in harmony" with the society without being an official member. Nine months later, in March 1888, Trotter and two other financially independent women—including Blanche Haworth, who for more than thirty years played "

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...

" to Trotter's "

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

"— arrived in Algiers. Trotter recalled, "Three of us stood there, looking at our battle-field, none of us fit to pass a doctor for any society, not knowing a soul in the place, or a sentence of Arabic or a clue for beginning work on untouched ground; we only knew we had to come. Truly if God needed weakness, He had it!" The women moved into the French quarter and diligently studied Arabic through French study materials and eventually through a professional tutor. They also learned how to do domestic work, all of them previously having had their needs met by servants. Later Trotter said that the early years were like "knocking our heads against stone walls," but the women were indefatigable, trying one technique after another in an attempt to make inroads into the Algerian culture and all the while improving their Arabic. Eventually Trotter was able to gain access to the heavily secluded women by first befriending their children. The outreach to women, she believed, was a "great line of cleavage in the rock face of Islam." Converts were banished, beaten, even (Trotter believed) poisoned with "mind drugs" that were to be administered in food or drink and would produce "a paralysis of mind and will." Many converts died, and Trotter "came to rejoice in their loss. 'We were glad to let them go … One draws a breath of relief when they get safe home o heaven'" Trotter's health was so seriously impaired that she regularly spent extended periods of convalescence in Great Britain or on the continent. Adding to the difficulties of the English missionaries was French colonial suspicion of their activities. The local government bought a house across the street and for three years lured potential converts away with competing classes. Spies and gendarmes even followed the women into the southern desert and threatened fines and imprisonment for any who went near them or accepted their literature. SettethinPain

Nevertheless, by 1906, with warming relations between England and France, Trotter experienced less governmental antagonism and more freedom for her missionary work. In 1907 five new workers joined the "Algiers Mission Band." By 1920, there were thirty full-time workers and fifteen preaching stations. Trotter became the reluctant, but unchallenged, leader of the group, which in 1907 was named the Algiers Mission Band. Trotter was sensitive to the contemporary difficulty of a woman exerting authority over a man, but as the staff included more men, she shrewdly refined "the organizational system to capitalize on their leadership." Trotter never solicited funds because she said God's wealth was boundless. Trotter was also a pioneer in attempting to adapt Christian missionary endeavor to the Algerian culture. Referring to evangelistic meetings as a "European idea," she proposed evangelizing with "a native cafe on a Christian footing," readings of the Bible in a "rhythmical recitative" accompanied by a drum, a craft house that would teach little girls embroidery, and a Christian retreat for women to "take the place of the outings to shrines which are their only chance of fresh air." Trotter designed cards that had biblical passages drawn by an Arab scribe because "no one but a native can give the subtle lines & curves of the writing as they should be." The mission society even published a series of cards with a sentence from the

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

followed by verses from the Old Testament. Trotter was a "prodigious writer," filling a journal page nearly every day for forty years and illustrating the world around her with sketches and watercolors. From these efforts came several books of somewhat flowery and mystical prose, including ''Parables of the Cross'' and ''Parables of the Christ-life''. Though she considered orthodox Islam "dry as the dune, hard as the gravel," she responded to the "sincere hunger for things of the spirit" in the Sufi mystics and wrote for them ''The Way of the Sevenfold Secret'' as a devotional guide based on the seven "I am" statements found in the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

Later years and legacy

Confined to bed during her last years, Trotter devoted herself to prayer, writing, and sketching while continuing to manage the affairs of the Algiers Mission Band as best she could. She had taken on Belle Patrick as her secretary in 1924. Following qualifying as one of the first three women lawyers in Scotland, Patrick booked her passage to Algiers the very next day. As her body failed, her mind remained clear, even at the end asking prayer for the strength to dictate a letter to Amy Carmichael of India, with whom she had regular correspondence. While attendants sang a hymn, she exclaimed, "A chariot and six horses." "You are seeing beautiful things," someone asked. "Yes," she said, "many, many beautiful things."Rockness, 324. In 2015, Oxvision Films released a feature-length documentary, ''Many Beautiful Things: The Life and Vision of Lilias Trotter''. Starring

Michelle Dockery Michelle Suzanne Dockery (born 15 December 1981) is an English television and film actress. She is best known for her leading performance as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV television period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015), for which ...

as the voice of Lilias Trotter and

John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untouch ...

as the voice of her mentor John Ruskin, ''Many Beautiful Things'' premiered in the UK on 11 July 2015 at the

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first taking ...

, and in the United States on 17 October at the

Heartland Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...

. The film was directed by Laura Waters Hinson, and its musical score was written by Sleeping at Last.

Selected works

''Parables of the Cross''
(London: Marshall Brothers, 1890)
''Parables of the Christ-life''
(London: Marshall Brothers, 1899) *''Between the Desert and the Sea'' (London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1929) *''The Way Of The Sevenfold Secret'' (Turnbridge Wells, England: Nile Mission Press, 1933
Arabic E-textEnglish E-text
*''The Master of the Impossible: sayings, for the most part in parable'' (ed. Constance Padwick) (London: SPCK, 1938) *Cherry Blossom. *Sand Lilies.
''Focussed: A Story and A Song''
*Vibrations

*Trained to Rule *A Thirsty Land and God's Channels *A South Land *Smouldering *A Ripened Life
''A Life On Fire''
*Heavenly Light on the Daily Path *A Challenge To Faith *Back-ground and Fore-Ground *Winter Buds

References

External links

* * *
"Many Beautiful Things: The Life and Vision of Lilias Trotter"
documentary film.
Writings and Artwork by Lilias Trotter

in Edwin and Lillian Harvey & Elizabeth Hey, ''They Knew Their God'' (Greencastle, Indiana: Harta-Flame Publications, 1974), Vol. 1.
Scans of Lillias Trotter Tracts
* Papers and artwork of Lilias Trotter, and organisational papers of the Algiers Mission Band are held b
SOAS Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trotter, Lilias 1853 births 1928 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters 19th-century English women artists 20th-century English women artists 19th-century English women writers 20th-century English women writers 19th-century Christian mystics 20th-century Christian mystics British expatriates in Algeria Christian writers English evangelicals English Protestant missionaries English women painters Female Christian missionaries Painters from London Protestant missionaries in Algeria Protestant mystics