Empire: World History 321. Exploding Rum-filled Coffins, Anglo-Indian Sisterhood, & Julia Margaret Cameron
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Jan 1, 2026 
Art historian Emily Burns joins to delve into the life of Julia Margaret Cameron, the pioneering photographer and great aunt of Virginia Woolf. Sparks fly as they discuss the captivating Anglo-Indian Pattle Sisters, who dazzled Victorian society and hosted many illustrious figures. Discover how Cameron’s self-taught innovation and distinctive pictorialist style redefined photography. Emily also explores the vibrant artistic community fostered at Little Holland House, a hub for creativity and intellect that echoed through time.
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Sisterhood Linked To Indian Scholarship
- The seven Pattle sisters formed a tight artistic network; one sister, Sarah, married into the Princep family tied to Oriental scholarship.
- Their connections included the Princep brothers who contributed to Indian epigraphy and cultural debates.
Mia Pattle’s Bloomsbury Link
- Mia Pattle became grandmother to Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell and was a frequent model for Julia Margaret Cameron.
- Her daughter Julia Jackson produced some of Cameron's most famous haunting portraits.
Little Holland House: A Creative Hub
- Little Holland House was a bohemian, class-crossing salon where artists, poets, scientists and Anglo-Indian sisters mingled.
- The house created an environment that fostered interdisciplinary collaboration and Cameron's photographic projects.
