Mary Bonham-Christie (23 July 1865 – 28 April 1961) called "the Demon of Brownsea", was the reclusive owner of Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset from 1927 until her death in 1961.[1]
Mary Florence was born in Wandsworth, South London, in 1865,[2] the daughter of Charles Joseph Sofer Whitburn and Fanny Hales Whitburn, of Addington Park in Kent, who were married in 1863.[3] [4] She had two elder sisters, Ada and Susannah, two elder brothers, Thomas and Edward Harry, and younger twin brothers, Sofer and William, born in 1867.[5] Her father died on 2 Nov 1911 at 16 Ennismore Gardens.[6] His addresses at the time were Addington Park, Maidstone; 16 Ennismore Gardens, Middlesex, and 17 Clements Lane, London. Probate was granted in London on 5 January to Charles William Sofer Whitburn, banker, and to Mary Florence Christie. His "Effects" were £1,476,795 2s. 7d (about £146 million in 2024).[7]
Her mother Fanny died in the registration district of St George's Hanover Sq., on 3 December 1921. She was of 16 Ennismoore Gardens, Middlesex. Administration of her effects was granter in London on 21 January to Charles William Sofer Whitburn, banker, and to her. These "effects" of her mother amounted to £425,48 12s. 0d (about £1.75 million in 2024).[8]
Mary married Robert Bonham Bax Christie in 1889.[9] [10] He died at 28 Marloes Road, Kensington, Middlesex on 27 April 1931, aged 72. His address was 27 Maxilla Gardens, Ladbroke Grove, Middlesex. Probate was granted in London on 12 June to his son Robert Arthur Bonham Christie, a "landed proprietor". His "Effects" amounted to £8176 4s. 6d (about £470,000 in 2024).[11]
Mary and Robert Bonham Christie had a daughter, Elsie, born Highworth, in the first quarter of 1890. Elsie married Clement Woodbine Parish in St George's, Hanover Square in the third quarter of 1914. They had three sons and a daughter -
Mary and Robert also had a son, Robert Arthur, born in Malling in 1893. Robert married Kathleen E Leech in Chelsea in the second quarter of 1917, and they had a son John, in St. George's Hanover Sq. in 1918.
Mary Bonham-Christie purchased Brownsea Island at auction in 1927, for £125,000 (£6.6 million in 2024). She ordered the island's 200 residents to leave, and banned hunting and fishing on grounds of animal cruelty. The protracted legal battle that followed may have turned violent with the fire that consumed much of the island in 1934 (the cause of the fire was never determined, though Bonham-Christie blamed the Boy Scouts and forbade them to camp on the island afterward). Fearing further threats, she hired a bodyguard to eject intruders from the island. While unpopular, her minimal interference with the island's natural contents meant that it became a flourishing habitat for red squirrels,[12] deer and Sandwich tern, avocet, and other wildlife. "The old lady knew she wasn't popular but I don't think she cared," said a former boatman who served the island during her tenure there.[13]
Mary Bonham-Christie died on 28 April 1961, aged 96 years, in a local nursing home off the island where her family had moved her from the island that day.[14] Her grandson and heir John Bonham-Christie had plans to develop the island. A group of environmental conservationists, led by Helen Brotherton, organized to oppose his plans. They succeeded in raising sufficient funds to persuade the Treasury to take Brownsea Island as settlement of death duties, which was accepted provided that the National Trust took over the island.[15] However, this was also subject to payment to the Treasury of £100,000 - which the National Trust did not have. An arrangement was finally reached whereby three other parties contributed £25,000 each: The Dorset Wildlife Trust - provided they could run half the island; the John Lewis Partnership - for a 99-year lease of the castle & grounds (for staff holidays); and the Scout & Guide Movements - provided they could have access to the rest of the Island for their members.
There is a monument to Mary Bonham-Christie in the churchyard at Marston Bigot; her remains were cremated at Bournemouth, and although the local paper said her ashes were scattered at Brownsea Island, the memorial at Marston Bigot states that her ashes are at Bournemouth crematorium. In 2007, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a half-hour report about Mary Bonham-Christie, titled "For Nature, Not Humans."[16]