Ada Teetgen (1879-1957)
English writer Ada Bessie Teetgen resided briefly in Islay, AB, where her experience with the death of her sister’s baby inspired her to write an autobiographical novel,
A White Passion (1912), to help raise funds for building the Lady Minto Hospital.
2 November 1879, St. Thomas, Hackney, London, England
26 January 1957, Canterbury, Kent, England,
Name at birth:
Ada Bessie Teetgen
Alternate names:
Ada B. Teetgen
A.B. Teetgen
“Captain Harcourt”
Note
This author's life has been researched earlier for inclusion in the
<XREF URL="http://digital.lib.sfu.ca/ceww-collection" RESP="KME">Canada's Early Women Writers</XREF> project at Simon Fraser University. Information in this entry therefore may not be comprehensive, but has been verified.
Entry revised by Linnea McNally
Ada Teetgen (1879-1957)
Ada Bessie Teetgen was born in 1879 in London, England, to Ellen Walmsley Hopwood (1859-1927) and William Teetgen (c1850-1933), the son of Teetgen’s Teas founder, Augustus Teetgen (c1813-1877).
Ada was raised in England, where she published her first book in 1907. In 1909, she left England for Islay, AB, where she assisted her sister who was expecting a second child. After the baby’s death, Ada was inspired to improve medical services available in the rural community, and wrote an autobiographical novel,
A White Passion (1912), to help raise funds for building the Lady Minto Hospital, as recounted in The Hospital on the Hill (1962).
Ada continued to move between England and Islay from 1909 to 1914, then returned permanently to England, where she served for some time as a Matron for Prison Services. Her other books indicate a wide range of interest and ability; an adventure story,
Bob Quested’s Troop: A Tale of Prairie Scouts, published under the pseudonym "Captain Harcourt," was written to meet a publisher's request for a text to match a picture of a prisoner seated backwards on a horse. Ada died in 1957 in Herne Bay, England, where she had lived for at least two decades.
Published Texts
Fiction
Bob Quested’s Troop: A Tale of Prairie Scouts (London: Pilgrim, [c1912])—as "Captain Harcourt"
A White Passion (Toronto: Bell & Cockburn; London: Gardner, 1913)
Open Patrols: A Story for Catholic Guides (London: Heath Cranton, 1925)
Non-fiction
The Life and Times of the Empress Pulcheria (London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1907)
Profitable Herb Growing and Collecting (London: Country Life, 1916)
The Footsteps of Sir Thomas More (London: Sands, 1930)
The Waltz Kings of Old Vienna (New York: Dutton; London: Jenkins, 1939)
Periodical Contributions
Contemporary Review (London)
Empire Review
Family and Relationships
Father: William Teetgen (1850 – 1933)
William Teetgen was born in 1850 in Dalston, Middlesex, England, to Elizabeth Ford (c1812-c1878) and Augustus Teetgen (c1813-1877), who established Teetgen & Co. Ltd., tobacconists, in the 1820s and Teetgen’s Teas in 1834.
Like his father, William was a tea dealer and grocer. He married Ellen Walmsley Hopwood (1859-1927) in 1877. The couple had three daughters. William died in 1933 in Blean, Kent, England.
Mother: Ellen Walmsley Hopwood (1859 – 18 February 1927)
Ellen Walmsley Hopwood was born in 1859 in Chester, Cheshire, England, to agent Frederick Augustus Hopwood (c1829-1896) and his first wife, Jemima (c1838-c1862). Ellen married William Teetgen (1850-1933) in 1877. The couple had three daughters. She died in 1927 in Eddington, England.
Siblings
Ellen Walmsley Teetgen (24 June 1878 – January 1971): Gerald John Lively
Gerald was a guide, geographer, cowboy, naturalist’s assistant, and poet whose work Ada quotes in the opening of
A White Passion. Ellen was a nurse with a certificate in midwifery.
Ethel Fanny Teetgen (b. 30 September 1881)
Religion
Catholic
Residences
Birchington, Thanet, Kent, England (1911)
England (1914)
Hackney, London, England (1879–1881)
Islay, AB (1909, 1912)
Orpington, London, England (1916–1923)
Southwood, Eddington, Herne Bay, England (1937–1957)
Education
Awards
Employment and Volunteer Activities
Employment
Apothecary (1923)
Nurse (1912)
Prison Matron, London, England (1910)
Archival Holdings
Published Resources
1881 England Census.
1911 England Census.
Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935.
England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975.
England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007.
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966.
Islay Municipal Hospital Board. The Hospital on the Hill: 1912-1962 (Edmonton, AB: Douglas, 1962).
New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960.
Under Clause 7 of the Order in Council. London Gazette (5 October 1920): 9720.
Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada. The Canadian Nurse 9.1 (January 1913): 255.
Watters, R.E. A Checklist of Canadian Literature and Background Materials. (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1972): 404.