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Agatha Christie "Queen of Crime" was an English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright. ^[1] The Guinness Book of Worlds Records lists her as the best selling novelist of all time! ^[2]

Biography

Agatha (Miller) Christie DBE was born in Torquay, Devon, England.

Agatha (Miller) Christie DBE is Notable.

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born 15 Sep 1890 in Torquay, Devon, England, ^[3]
She was the daughter of Frederick Miller and Clarissa Boehmer. Her father was born in America and her mother was born in Ireland.

Siblings:

• Margaret F. Miller
• Louis M. Miller

England and Wales Census, 1891 ^[4]
Event Place: Tormohun, Devon, England. Sub- District: Torquay. Registration District: Newton Abbot. Residence: Barton Road.

England and Wales Census, 1901 ^[5]
Event Place: Tormohun, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Sub- District: Torquay. Registration District: Newton Abbot. Residence: Barton Road. Agatha was 10 years of age.

England and Wales Census, 1911 ^[6]
Event Place: Tormohun, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Sub- District: Torquay. Registration District: Newton Abbot. Residence: Barton Road. Agatha was 20 years of age. Her mother is a widow.

England and Wales Census, 1921 ^[7]
Event Place: Clewer Mill House, Clewer, Clewer Without, Berkshire, England. Sub- District: Windsor. Registration District: Windsor. Agatha is a visitor in the residence of Ernest Albert Belcher. Agatha was 29 years of age.

1939 Register ^[8]
Event place: Greenway House, Paignton, Totnes R.D., Devon, England. Agatha was recorded under her married name of Mallowen. She was aged 47 and her occupation is listed as Authoress. Husband Max and daughter Rosalind are listed in the same entry.

First Marriage

Agatha M.C. Miller married Archibald Christie on 24 Dec 1914 at Clifton, Emmanel, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom. ^{[9] [10]} He was an aviator in the Royal Flying Corps. While he was off at war, she worked as a nurse with the Red Cross and later as a dispenser. It was while working in a hospital during the war that Christie first came up with the idea of writing a detective novel. Although it was completed in a year, it wasn't published until 1920, five years later.

Child:

1. Rosalind (Christie) Hicks.

Agatha and Archibald's marriage was a turbulent one. Not long after the death of Agatha's mother, she discovered Archibald was having an affair. After having a minor car accident where she narrowly missed driving over a cliff, Agatha went missing for 11 days. She was eventually recognised and found staying in a Spa Hotel in the north of England. The fact that she was at that point a famous mystery writer made her disappearance all the more mysterious. It has been speculated that the double tragedy of the loss of her mother and betrayal of her husband was too much to face and for a time she suffered from amnesia.

Agatha (Miller) Christie divorced Archibald Christie in 1928.

Second Marriage

She then married Max Mallowan in 1930. This was a much happier marriage and they remained married until her death.^[11]

Christie's Writings

"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" gave the world the inimitable Hercule Poirot, a retired Belgian police officer who was to become one of the most enduring characters in all of fiction. With his waxed moustache and his "little grey cells," he was "meticulous, a tidy little man, always neat and orderly, with a slight flavour of absurdity about him."^[12]

Christie wrote more than 30 novels featuring Poirot. Among the most popular were "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" (1926), "Murder on the Orient Express" (1934), and "Death on the Nile" (1937).

Agatha introduced another of her famous characters. Miss Jane Marple in"Murder at the Vicarage" in 1930. Miss Marple is an elderly spinster in the quaint English village of St. Mary Mead. While appearing to be muddle headed, she solved all manner of mysteries with intense concentration and intuition in 12 novels. Miss Marple was the perfect character for the Golden Age of fiction in England during the 1920s and '30s, resulting in Agatha being acknowledged as Queen of the Golden Age.

Agatha wrote over 66 novels, numerous short stories and screenplays. She also wrote a series of romantic novels using the pen name Mary Westmacott. She wrote the longest running play, The Mousetrap. Her novel, Murder on the Orient Express became one of her works to be turned into movies with notable success. Many other works were made into movies as well, including works with the characters Tommy and Tuppence.

Agatha Christie's work has been translated into more than a hundred languages. In 1971 she was awarded the high honor of becoming a Dame of the British Empire.

Death

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE passed away on 12 Jan 1976 at her Winterbrook House in the north of Cholsey parish, adjoining Wallingford in Oxfordshire (formerly part of Berkshire). She was 85 and died from natural causes She is buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey. Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia:Agatha Christie
2. ↑ Guinness Book of World Records
3. ↑ "British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPCV-YVYR : 17 April 2019), Frederick Alvab Miller in entry for Miller, Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom; records extracted FamilySearch and images digitized by FindMyPast; citing Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom, 19 Sep 1890, The British Newspaper Archive, Ireland; FHL microfilm .
4. ↑ 1891 Census. Citing this Record: "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WCXM-MN2 : 22 February 2021), Agatha M C Miller in household of Frederick A Miller, Tormohun, Devon, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Devon county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
5. ↑ 1901 Census. Citing this Record: "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSWW-BLQ : 21 May 2019), Agatha Miller in household of Frederick Miller, Tormohun, Devon, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Torquay subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
6. ↑ 1911 Census. Citing this Record: "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW94-S4H : 3 July 2019), Agatha Mary Clarrisa Miller in household of Clarrisa Margaret Miller, Torquay, Torbay, Devon, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
7. ↑ 1921 Census: "1921 Census Of England & Wales"
   Archive: The National Archives; Series: RG 15; Piece number: 06112; District reference: RD 125 RS 2 ED 14
   FindMyPast Image - FindMyPast Transcription (accessed 29 April 2023)
   Agatha M Christie (29), married visitor, Novelist, in household of Ernest Albert Belcher (48) at Clewer Mill House, Clewer, Clewer Without in Windsor registration district in Berkshire, England. Born in Torquay, Devon, England. Employed by Own Account.

   Name	Relation	Sex	Status	Age	Birth Place	Occupation	Employer
   Ernest Albert Belcher	Head	M		48	London, London, England	Assistant General Manager, British Empire Exhibition	Executive Council, British Empire Exhibition
   Harold S Inman	Visitor	M		52	Spital, Cheshire, England	Secretary, Bank Of England (Retired)
   Diana M Inman	Visitor	F		15	Tadworth, Surrey, England
   Percy Potter	Visitor	M		39	Withington, Lancashire, England	Chartered Accountant	Employer
   Margaret E Potter	Visitor	F		30	Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales	Home Duties
   Agatha M Christie	Visitor	F	Married	29	Torquay, Devon, England	Novelist	Own Account
   Hutton Jacques Sterm	Visitor	M		17	London, London, England
   Catherine Osborn	Servant	F		47	Barnet, Hertfordshire, England	Housekeeper	Private
   Ethel Head	Servant	F		25	Wadesmill, Hertfordshire, England	Parlour Maid	Private

8. ↑ 1939 Register: "1939 Register"
   Reference: RG101/6912D/002/38; Piece number: 6912D; Schedule: 10
   FindMyPast Image - FindMyPast Transcription (accessed 29 April 2023)
   Agatha M C Mallowan (born 15 Sep 1891), married, Authoress, at Greenway House, Paignton, Totnes R.D., Devon, England.

   Name	Status	Sex	Birth Date	Occupation
   Agatha M C Mallowan	Married	F	15 Sep 1891	Authoress
   Max E L Mallowan	Married	M	06 May 1904	Archaeologist
   Rosalind M C Pritchard (Christie)	Single	F	05 Aug 1919	No Occupation

9. ↑ Marriage Entry: Agatha M.C. Miller married Archibald Christie on 24 Dec 1914 at Clifton, Emmanel, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom. Citing this Record: "England, Bristol Parish Registers, 1538-1900", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ81-65FF : 8 November 2017), Archibald Christie and Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller, 1914.
10. ↑ England & Wales marriage registration: Bristol [district], Volume 6a, Page 161, December quarter 1914, Archibald CHRISTIE and Agatha MILLER
11. ↑ Biography Online: Agatha Christie
12. ↑ The New Bedside Bathtub and Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie

• Biography Dame Agatha Christie. (http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/achristie.html)

See also:

• ThePeerage.com: Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller
• Project Gutenberg: Agatha Christie
• Wikipedia: Agatha Christie
• Wikidata: Item Q35064, en:Wikipedia
• http://www.redcross.org.uk/About-us/Who-we-are/History-and-origin/First-World-War/Agatha-Christie. Accessed 21 Nov 2014.