Edgar Vernon Christian (6 June 1908 – June 1927) was an English adventurer and writer who died in Northern Canada.
He was born in
Earls Barton
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used.
The titl ...
, Northamptonshire, the son of Lt Col William Francis (Frank) Christian,
RA and his wife Marguerite (née Hornby). He was one of five children in the family. Soon after he was born the family moved to
Cosham, Hampshire. He attended prep school at the Grange School, Shorncliffe Road,
Folkestone
Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...
and hoped to follow his brother Charles to
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...
, but eventually in 1924 he went on to
Dover College
Dover College is an independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in Dover in south east England. It was founded in 1871, and takes both day pupils and boarders from the UK and internationally.
The schoo ...
which was more local, despite the fact the family moved in 1919 to Bron Dirion in North Wales.
After Dover College, at the age of 18, Edgar went to Canada. He left
Edmonton, Alberta
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
in 1926 on a trapping expedition with his cousin
John Hornby ("Hornby of the North") and a companion, Harold Adlard. Hornby was older and had been on similar expeditions before. They attempted to stay there for a year but having missed the expected herd of migrating
caribou
The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...
, they lacked sufficient food to survive the winter, and all died of starvation in a log hut near the
Thelon River
The Thelon River (', "on the other side") stretches across northern Canada. Its source is Whitefish Lake in the Northwest Territories, and it flows east to Baker Lake in Nunavut. The Thelon ultimately drains into Hudson Bay at Chesterfield I ...
barren lands. He was the last of the party to die, sometime after the first of June 1927. An edition of the diary kept by him detailing this misadventure, which was found placed in the stove of the cabin, was published (with portions omitted) in 1937 under the title "Unflinching". The diary is kept at his old school, Dover College, but the story has been told several other times in books and plays. On 15 November 1939, a half-hour programme, based on his diary, was broadcast by the BBC.
[''Radio Times'', November 10, 1939] A fuller edition of the diary by George Whalley, including Christian's letters to his father and mother, was published in 1980 as ''Death in the Barren Ground''.
The Bruce Valpy play ''Hornby'' was performed in the 2007
Canterbury Festival
The Canterbury Festival is Kent's international festival of the arts. It takes place in Canterbury (England) and surrounding towns and villages (including Faversham, Whitstable and Margate) each October/November and includes performances of a vari ...
by pupils from Dover College.
Further reading
* Edgar Christian. ''Unflinching: A Diary of Tragic Adventure''. With an introduction and conclusion by B. Dew Roberts and a preface by Major Hon. J.J. Astor, MP. London: John Murray, 1937.
* Jeffery, Lawrence. ''Who Look in Stove''
nd''The Edgar Christian Diary''. (play) Toronto: Exile Editions, 1993.
* Powell-Williams, Clive. ''Cold Burial: A Journey into the Wilderness''. London: Viking, 2001.
* Valpy, Bruce. ''Hornby.'' (play) Canadian Theatre Review, 73 (Winter 1992), 60-76.
*
Whalley, George. ''Death in the Barren Ground''. The Diaries of Edgar Christian. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1980.
External links
"Please Don't Blame Dear Jack"Edgar Christian's Last Letters
George Whalley: "Death in the Barren Ground: The Story of John Hornby's Last Journey"CBC ''Trans Canada Wednesday Night.'' 3 March 1954. Radio.
George Whalley
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Edgar
1908 births
1927 deaths
20th-century English male writers
Deaths by starvation