Edward Whittall
Edward Whittall.
From
Levantine Heritage.
Used with permission.
Edward Whittall,
born 1851,
of
C. Whittall and Co., Smyrna.
See
Wikipedia
and
Wikitree.
See
entry
in
tree
by
Brigitte Louise Theuma.
He
mar 14 Apr 1875, Smyrna, to
Mary Maltass [Mary Eliza Maltass, born 18 Nov 1851].
He lived Bornova.
He was a keen botanist,
collector and cultivator of wild flowers of Asia Minor.
Discoverer of several new species and
varieties
of plants
which are named after him.
See
plants named after Edward Whittall.
Ran a fig and currant export business from Smyrna.
He
bought an old house in Bornova,
which became known as
The Edward Whittall House.
He
built up its magnificent garden.
Lived there until he died.
He is the "Mr. Whittall" who entertained
the
Prince of Wales (later George V)
at his house in Bornova in 1886.
See
[Kalcas, 1983].
He died 1917.
Edward and Mary had issue:
- Edgar Arthur Whittall,
think called Arthur,
born 1877, Smyrna.
He mar 1899 to Hilda Blanche La Fontaine
[born 1880] and had issue.
- Albert James Whittall, born 1879, Smyrna.
- Elsie Whittall, born 1880, Smyrna.
- Rachel Whittall,
"Ray", born 1881, Smyrna.
She mar Emile Tissot and had issue.
- Godfrey Whittall,
born 1882, Smyrna,
had issue:
- Rodney Whittall,
Rodney Howard Whittall,
born 1912,
mar his 1st cousin Edna Giraud,
had issue:
- Anthony Whittall, had issue:
- James Whittall.
- Philip Whittall.
- Ruth Whittall,
born 14 June 1884, Smyrna, twin.
She bought The Edward Whittall House
in Bornova
from rest of family after her father's death 1917.
She mar Edmund Haydn Giraud and had issue.
- Jessie Whittall,
Jessica Maud Whittall, born 14 June 1884, Smyrna, twin.
She mar Reginald Turrell
[Reginald Edmund, born 19 Mar 1879].
She died 31 -- 1928, age 44 yrs.
He died 10 Apr 1933, age 54 yrs.
They had issue:
- Ray Frances Turrell.
She must be Rachel, like her aunt Ray Whittall.
She
mar Richard Alan Bell
[born 18 Oct 1915]
and had issue.
- Edward Sidney Whittall,
born 5th May 1888, Smyrna,
mar Dorothy Jane Peacock and had issue:
- Dulcie Mary Whittall, born 1st Sept 1915, Smyrna.
- Walter Whittall, born 1890, Smyrna.
The Edward Whittall House,
Bornova.
Called the "Godfrey Giraud House" in
[Kalcas, 1983].
See
edwardwhittallgarden.com.
The Edward Whittall House, 1950s.
From
Levantine Heritage.
Used with permission.
The Edward Whittall House.
From Levantine Heritage.
Used with permission.
The Edward Whittall House.
From Levantine Heritage.
Used with permission.
The Edward Whittall House.
From Levantine Heritage.
Used with permission.
Gertrude Bell,
born 1868, traveller, diplomat and archaeologist,
visited the Whittall family in Smyrna.
From The Gertrude Bell archive
at the University of Newcastle.
-
1902 - She arrives Smyrna,
Wed 26th Feb 1902,
staying initially with the van Lennep
family at Malcajik near Smyrna.
See diary from
26th Feb 1902
to
19th Mar 1902.
See letters from
28th Feb 1902
to
19th Mar 1902.
-
On
2nd Mar
she met "The Van Heemstras and her brother Mr Whittall".
She writes on 3 Mar:
"All these people are connected with one another.
They have married each other, or married into Smyrna families of Greeks - the Smyrna women are very beautiful you know,
... Everybody in the
Levant is cousin to everybody else, quite regardless of nationality. Indeed nationality doesn't exist here."
-
On
10th Mar
she met
"Mr Herbert Whittall with his daughter Helen
and
his niece Rachel (Edward)".
On
11 Mar
when at Bornova at Herbert's house went to see
"Mr Edward Whittall .. and his 2 daughters Elsie and Rachel".
-
In Bornova again on
17th Mar,
dined with
"Helen .. and Kathleen and Herbert".
"After dinner a mass of cousins
came in, the
Lafontaines
who stay with Mr Storr,
Ed. Whittalls,
Dick Whittall etc".
-
On
18th Mar
"Up at 5 and off to Ephesus with
Mr and Mrs Edward, their 4 daughters
2 Maltas girls"
(would be relations of Edward's wife or Herbert's wife),
"Helen
and Arthur Whittall and a daughter in law of Mrs Edward"
(must be Arthur's wife Hilda Blanche La Fontaine
- he was the only son married at this point).
On 19 Mar
"travelled to Smyrna [Izmir] with
Mr Richard Whittall
the head of the firm, father of Mrs Van Heemstra."
-
She left Smyrna
19th Mar.
"I had a very nice time at the Whittalls; they are pleasant people."
"And if I wanted to stay and spend the summer with them I certainly might! But I pine a little for my own society;
one is never never alone and when I go travelling, all the station masters come too!"
- 1907 - Arrives Smyrna 2nd Apr 1907.
See diary
2nd Apr 1907
to 8th Apr 1907.
See letters
2nd Apr 1907
to 9th Apr 1907.
- On
2nd Apr
she arrives and
"Mr Whittall, a son of Mr Richard W
.. came on board for me."
After dinner, they are joined at
Bridge
by
"Elsie Whittall, Mr Edward's daughter"
and others.
"Most queer world this. French or English they are all without any nationality
or any mother tongue."
- On 3 Apr
she met Elsie and
"we went to the
Herbert Whittalls
whom I was very glad to see again.
I found them both aged and looking very sad; their daughter Helen
died last September."
- She writes on
4th Apr:
"I spent yesterday afternoon at Burnabat [Bornova] which is the place where all the English people live, a charming little town of big houses and gardens under
the hills. ..
and then to call on all my Whittall friends. They all live
in big delicious gardens and they have been here for generations.
.. they
have the bulk of the English trade in their hands, branch offices all down the southern coast,
mines and shooting boxes and properties scattered up and down the SW corner of
Asia Minor and yachts on the seas. They all have immense quantities of children
the sons young men now in the various Whittall businesses, of a funny sort of colonial type,
the daughters very charming, very gay, spending all the summer in picnicking
and all the winter dancing and playing bridge. The big gardens touch one another and they walk
in and out of one another's houses all day long gossiping and laughing.
I should think life presents itself no where under such easy and pleasant conditions."
Note [Kalcas, 1983]
mis-dates this letter as 1897.
- On
7th Apr
she lunches with
Edward Whittall
who talks of politics:
"Mr E.W. said that Turkey was getting poorer and poorer.
.. He thinks the end must be near. Possibly
the govt. will provoke a movement against the
Christians in which case Europe must intervene."
- She left on 8th Apr.
- 1914 - On
12th May 1914
she is in Smyrna again just for a day.
- She meets
Edward Whittall:
"He said that things were very bad
here. They have an infamous Vali, strong Committee man.
Policy of intolerable pinpricks against the Greeks, seemingly in the hope that they will be forced to leave and the
Turks step into their place as merchants. .. The Vali
and authorities are inciting the Mohammadan population against the
Christians and Mr Whittall fears a massacre."
-
The massacre began the following year
(against the Armenians, 1915).
-
Edward Whittall died in 1917.
His worst fears happened to
his home town Smyrna
in 1922.
Both endings "whittallii" and "whittalli"
are seen.
- Family tree of Richard Alan Bell above:
nephew of Richard Alan Bell.
