Ruth Mary Tristram (25 April 1886 – 22 October 1950) was a British amateur botanist.

Life

Born Ruth Mary Cardew on 25 April 1886, married Major Guy H. Tristram (-1963) in 1919, they had four children. They lived at (the now listed) Cox's Mill, Dallington. Son Launcelot died aged eight, and Tristram attempted to communicate with him by

automatic writing Automatic writing, also called psychography, is a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. Practitioners engage in automatic writing by holding a writing instrument and allowing alleged spir ...

. Son Christopher Guy (3 August 1925 – 1943) was killed when the ''Valaaren'' was sunk by

German submarine U-229 German submarine ''U-229'' was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 3 November 1941 at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 659, launched on 20 Augus ...

after leaving

convoy HX231 Convoy HX 231 was the 231st of the numbered series of Second World War HX convoys of merchant ships from HalifaX to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City on 25 March 1943 and were met on 31 March by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-7 ...

(the "Crisis Convoy"). Son David became a noted helleborist. Ruth Mary Tristram died on 22 October 1950.

Botany

Tristram became an expert on ''

Plantago ''Plantago'' is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though a ...

'' and was elected a fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

on 7 December 1911. She worked with E. G. Barker on ''Plantago'' with a plan to publish an account in for ''

Cambridge British Flora Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

''. They published several papers together. Tristram was also a member of the

Wild Flower Society Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 ...

Works

Botanical

* With E. G. Baker: papers in ''Report of the Botanical Society'' and ''Journal of Botany''

Spiritual

* ''Letters from Lancelot'', Dallington, (1931), (aka ''Lancelot, etc. Letters received in automatic writing by R. M. T.'') consisting of automatic writings and other materials relating to her dead son Lancelot, and other matters. (Reprinted 1933, by Dunston.) * ''Letters from Christopher : Born August 3rd. 1925. Died at sea April 1943'' (1944) ** ''Christopher, etc. [Letters received in automatic writing by R.M.T.'' "by CHRISTOPHER" (1947) * ''A Book of Preparation for the Coming Light'' as R.M.T. (1951) * ''The Book of Comfort'' by R. M. Tristram (1957)

Bibliography

* J. W. Cardew and J. E. Lously, [Obituary] ''Ruth Mary Tristram'' in ''Watsonia (journal), Watsonia'' 2 (1951): 13

References

1880s births 1950 deaths British botanists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London British spiritualists People from Rother District {{UK-botanist-stub