You have asked for information on Essil Elmslie. I probably know more than anyone else and am glad to put it on record.
Essil Forrest Elmslie was born on 24 September 1880 at Essilmont, Kimbolton Rd, Bedford, England. Her father was James Aberdour Elmslie and her mother his wife Cecilia formerly Cheyne. The Cheynes were a Scottish family, originally from Aberdeenshire but long settled in Edinburgh.
Cecilia’s father emigrated to Australia, became in turn a schoolmaster, clergyman and farmer and probably died in poverty. Cecilia went to Scotland to complete her education. She returned on the Sobraon, one of the leading sailing ships of the day. On the journey she was proposed to by the captain of the ship, a middle-aged widower with seven children. Her elder sister insisted on her marrying him against her own wishes.
Cecilia therefore started her married life with seven stepchildren, ranging from a boy only four years younger than herself to a small baby (the first wife died in childbirth). In spite of this unpromising beginning the marriage was successful. Certainly the stepchildren were very fond of Cecilia. She had four more children, of whom Essil was the youngest. James Elmslie, who also came from Aberdeenshire, continued as captain of the Sobraon (see Colonial Clippers by James Lubbock) until 1891. For some years the family travelled with him so that Essil spent much of her childhood at sea.
The name of Essil is derived from Essilmont, an estate in Aberdeenshire once owned by the Cheyne family. Essilmont, or more usually Essil, was used by several members of the Cheyne (and later the Elmslie) family as a Christian name. Her second name, Forrest, was her grandmother’s maiden name.
The family lived at Bedford while not at sea and later permanently. They later moved to Anerley in south London. Essil trained as an artist at the Slade, probably while living in Anerley. In 1986 there was an exhibition of paintings by former Slade pupils. The catalogue included a photograph of students painting, dated Spring Term 1904. Essil is one of the students shown, so this dates her attendance at the Slade.
After her father’s death, she lived with her mother, sister Coral and brother Reggie (my father) in Devonshire Place in the West End of London. Her brother was in practice as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and it was not unusual at that time for consultants to live where they practised.
Essil worked as an artist but I do not know how successfully or the type of work she did at this period. I have been told that she started the Redfern Gallery with a friend. I was not previously aware of her connection with the Friday Club. She is not listed anywhere as an artist of the period and I know of no work catalogued in an exhibition. The Manchester City Art Gallery lists some works by her as in their possession but they are not on show or reproduced on their website.
At some point, probably after her brother’s marriage in 1916, she became art mistress at Lockers Park, an independent boys’ preparatory school at Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. As far as I know, she continued there up to her marriage.
On 15 October 1925 she married at St Marylebone Registry Office Charles Lambert Rutherston. He was a member of a wealthy Bradford family of wool manufacturers. His name at birth was Rothenstein, which he changed during the 1914-18 war because of its German origin and appearance. His brother, who did not change his name, was William Rothenstein, the famous artist, and another brother was Albert Rutherston, also an artist and the father or grandfather of other artists of that name.
Charles Rutherston had been divorced, which is why they were married at a registry office. He had one child by the previous marriage but none by the marriage with Essil. I believe that his first wife deserted him shortly after the birth of their daughter and disappeared. He died about two years after the marriage. His daughter, Jeanette, lived with her stepmother and remained close until Essil’s death. She, her husband and adopted daughter are all now dead. Essil’s sister, Coral, and her other brother, Noel, both died childless. The children of her father’s first marriage all settled in Australia, so that I am the only relation alive with any personal knowledge of her.
After Charles Rutherston’s death, she lived for a time at Bickenhall Mansions near Baker Street, London but moved in about 1930 to Ellerslie, Rowledge, near Farnham, Surrey, which she shared with her mother until the latter’s death in 1939. Her husband had been a noted collector. He left most of his collection to Manchester City Art Gallery, where it now forms the Rutherston Loan Collection, but Essil had the use of some of it while she was alive. I remember some Augustus John paintings, one of my grandmother, and an Epstein bust of Jeanette. She had kept up her connections with the art world and entertained members of it generously.
During the war she moved several times. From about 1948 she shared her sister Coral’s house, The Croft, Ottershaw, Surrey and died there on 18 November 1952.
I have in my possession an oil painting, The Girl in the Mirror, which I think she painted about 1900 and retained throughout her life, presumably because it was a favourite. I also have four water colours. One was my christening present. The others and the oil were inherited after her death. I do not know of the whereabouts of any other of her paintings, except for those at Manchester. At the funeral of Jeanette’s husband, Christopher Powell, I was told by one of his relatives that there were some drawings by Essil Elmslie among his belongings but I lost touch. I have been told that she ceased painting on her marriage, which implies that she was painting until then.
This is substantially all that I know ( and probably more than you want) but I should be pleased to answer any questions to the best of my ability.
James Elmslie